Australia’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) program is a spending priority in the 2026 National Defence Strategy (NDS) and the accompanying spending plan, the Integrated Investment Program (IIP). Both offer signs of progress and highlight ongoing risks.
GWEO has been hitting milestones on the way to closing capability gaps and building domestic industrial foundations. But risks remain around funding, partnerships and when the program will deliver self-reliance.
GWEO is on track and addressing the many remaining gaps in sustainment and component manufacturing. Lockheed Martin’s work on GMLRS battlefield missiles and PrSM ballistic strike missiles continues apace. The company is already assembling GMLRS rounds in South Australia. Norwegian company Kongsberg is progressing toward domestic manufacture of JSM and NSM cruise strike missiles. The planning and construction of facilities for making rocket motors are running according to the 2024 GWEO plan. GWEO approved investment has risen to more than A$6 billion in the 2026 IIP from A$820 million in the 2024 IIP.
The new IIP also gives more attention to testing and maintenance facilities and priority component manufacturing. This was clear in the agreement reached at an Australian–US ministerial meeting in 2025 for two years of work to further local sustainment of US-built air-to-air missiles. This is an important step toward to Australian self-reliance.
Planned 10-year spending on GWEO has increased from between A$16 billion and A$21billion in the 2024 IIP to between A$26 billion and A$36 billion in 2026. The new IIP refers to acquisition of the AIM-260A air-to-air missile, whereas the 2024 GWEO Plan didn’t. In March, the US Congress cleared the a sale of up to 450 AIM-260As missiles valued at more than A$4 billion. This would make up part of the increase in planned GWEO spending.
Some spending on long-range strike and expeditionary air operations in the IIP is also counted in the GWEO spending table. This suggests that, apart from AIM-260A acquisition, the increase in GWEO spending probably reflects a plan to buy more strike munitions across sea, land and air domains to enlarge stocks. None of this can be certain, however, because the government has put all GWEO spending into just one line in the IIP.
Another question is how the increase is being funded. The strategy notes the possibility of securing alternative financing. For GWEO, the phrasing raises the possibility of co-investment by suppliers but also investment from outside the sector – for example, by superannuation funds – especially since the government is designing Australian industry for exports. The IIP provides no details, but a GWEO plan, to be issued this year, may.
The IIP’s GWEO section notably didn’t signal Australia’s interest in diversifying partnerships. Australia remains almost wholly dependent on the United States for guided weapons. The main exception is acquisition of JSMs and NSMs. US makers aren’t coping with demand. Their delivery times on key munitions are stretching into years rather than months, and their government restricts technology transfer. Meanwhile, geopolitical risk is elevated, and the NDS explicitly prioritises self-reliance.
The 2026 NDS acknowledges the advantages of diversification of supply, saying, ‘diverse international industrial partnerships support Australia’s national security, more robust and resilient global supply chains and the overall health and commercial viability of businesses within Australia’s sovereign defense industrial base.’ It also says decision-making ‘requires weighting investment toward the sovereign defence industrial capabilities.’
So it wouldn’t have been surprising to see the NDS signalling openness to diversifying partnerships. South Korea, Britain and Germany offer credible technology transfer pathways for components and complete weapons that could reduce dependence.
In two years, GWEO has matured from initiation to delivery. But the NDS and IIP leave us with enduring questions about how much it’s delivering – how many weapons and how much self-reliance – and at what pace. An updated GWEO plan due this year should provide at least partial answers.
