MELBOURNE \u2014 Australia will be the first export customer for the American-made beyond-visual-range air-to-air AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).\u00a0<\/p>\n
Defense Minister Richard Marles announced<\/a> during a visit to a multinational air combat exercise in northern Australia that the country will invest \u201calmost\u201d $736 million AUD ($518 million USD) to buy \u201cup to 450\u201d missiles for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF).\u00a0<\/p>\n The Department of Defence said<\/a>, \u201cThe acquisition of the AIM-260 JATM will provide Air Force platforms with a credible deterrent against airborne targets, complementing existing air-to-air missile capabilities and other surface-based missile capabilities across the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It will also further enhance Australia\u2019s interoperability with the United States.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lockheed Martin-made missile is a closely held weapon for the US, only having been publicly photographed for the first time in May, according to Air and Space Forces Magazine<\/a>. Australia had been cleared by the State Department<\/a> to buy the JATM in March \u2014 though the price tag for all the missiles, plus several test articles and associated equipment, should Australia pursue the full purchase, was at the time estimated to come to over $3 billion USD.<\/p>\n Canberra first plans to integrate the AIM-260 on the RAAF\u2019s Boeing F\/A-18F Super Hornet multi-role fighters, followed by its fleet of Lockheed-Martin F-35A Lightning II fifth-generation fighters and then its Boeing EA-18G Growler Electronic Attack aircraft.\u00a0<\/p>\n Speaking at a media doorstop during the visit to the Pitch Black air combat exercise in RAAF Base Darwin, Marles called the acquisition a \u201creally significant purchase to upgrade the capability\u201d of the RAAF, adding that it was in line with the force structure and posture set out in Australia\u2019s Defence Strategic Review<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Test Of First Indigenous Solid Rocket Motor<\/p>\n Separately, Australia also announced today that it had successfully flight tested an indigenously developed solid fuel rocket motor to be used in guided weapons.\u00a0<\/p>\n