Australia test-fires first locally made GMLRS missiles
The first Australian-manufactured GMLRS missiles are test fired from HIMARS at the Woomera Test Range in South Australia. (Commonwealth of Australia)
Australia has test-fired its first locally produced Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missiles, the Department of Defence (DoD) in Canberra announced on 13 April.
The DoD said the test was conducted from its Woomera Test Range in South Australia and that the missiles were fired from the Australian Army's Lockheed Martin M142 High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS). The DoD said the test-firing follows the opening in December 2025 of a new dedicated GMLRS production facility at Port Wakefield in South Australia.
Australia's Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said, “Making missiles in Australia is central to Australia's national defence resilience. Australia is now the only country outside the United States to make the GMLRS missile, providing opportunities for Australian industry to enter into global supply chains.”
He added that the new test-firing is milestone for Australia's sovereign guided weapons capability. [This] demonstrates concrete progress in strengthening our national self‑reliance and delivering a defence future made in Australia,” Conroy said.
The DoD said the new live-fire test represented the third that it has conducted with HIMARS since the Australian Army took delivery of the rocket launcher from the US in March 2025. It added that this momentum demonstrates that “accelerated delivery and training systems [are] in place to achieve initial operational capability” with the system.
The DoD also said the Australian‑made GMLRS missiles are a precursor to the local production of other long‑range fires munitions, including Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment 1 (Inc 1).
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