OPINION | Course correction: a better naval interceptor for Australia

Yet the combination of SM-2s and SM-6s has important limitations for AMD and especially BMD. Firstly, the missiles are derived from a 1960s design and so lack key modern technologies, such as lateral rocket thrusters that quickly throw a missile on to a new course, for defeating highly manoeuvrable targets.

The SM-2 has no BMD capability, and the SM-6 is unproven against complex threats, having had limited operational use, mainly against simpler Houthi weapons (it worked).

Also, the supply of the SM-6 is constrained, with annual production now around 125 rounds and planned to rise to 300 by 2028. The then-US Secretary of the Navy, Carlos Del Toro, said in April 2024 the service had fired off more than US$1 billion of missiles in only a few months, so we may wonder when Australia will receive its SM-2s and SM-6s.