US to sell guided missiles for HIMARS to Australia

The US Department of State has approved the sale of 54 GMLRS M30A2 guided missiles to Australia for the HIMARS multiple launch rocket system. The total value of the deal is $91.2 million.

Here's What We Know

In addition to the missiles, the deal includes telemetry kits, engineering and technical support, logistics and other related services. The main contractors will be Lockheed Martin and its Australian subsidiary.

This purchase will be the first contract to be implemented at Australian facilities as part of the creation of production capacity for the GMLRS. The country seeks to develop its own missile production and plans to produce the first batch of GMLRS in 2025, and subsequently increase production to 4,000 units per year.

In 2022, Australia ordered 20 HIMARS systems from the United States for $385 million, and later increased the order to 42 units. In January 2024, the Australian Department of Defence signed a $37.4 million contract with Lockheed Martin Australia to launch GMLRS production.

It is worth noting that the M30A2 is the only version of the M30 missile currently in production, which has been manufactured since 2019 and has an alternative warhead. In short, it also became known earlier that Lockheed Martin has handed over six HIMARS systems to Estonia.

Source: DSCA