Australia will accelerate plans to buy sea mines to protect its maritime routes and ports from “potential aggressors”.
According to Reuters, the smart sea mines will differentiate between military targets and other types of ships, as a defense department spokesperson explained.
The defense department did not specify any further details, but the Sydney Morning Herald reported that the government would spend up to A$1 billion ($698 million) to develop high-tech underwater weapons.
What is more, the federal government will soon announce a contract to buy “a substantial number” of sea mines from a European weapons supplier.
Taking to ABC television, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said that he would not “pre-empt those national security issues.”
What we need is to make sure we have the best possible defences. So we have looked at missile defence, we’re looking at cyber security, we’re looking at all of these issues
Australia has been looking to enhance its defense spending over the past few years, including a deal in 2021 to buy nuclear submarines from the United States and Britain.
