More than five years after Australia was approved to buy AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missiles (LRASMs), Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F/A-18F Super Hornets of No. 1 Squadron successfully test-fired the munition for the first time off the coast of California.
“These weapon systems equip our forces to better protect Australia’s maritime approaches and when necessary, conduct operations in our region. It will be seen across the Super Hornet, Poseidon and F-35 fleets,” said the Minister for Defence, Richard Marles.
Two RAAF F/A-18F Super Hornets, supported by Air Force E/A-18G Growler and E-7A Wedgetail aircraft, as well as a US Navy P-8A, conducted the successful firings last month. Imagery released by Defence indicates that at least two missiles were expended during the test.
The operational test activity was completed as part of a larger RAAF deployment to the US West Coast earlier this year. Commencing in late January, F/A-18F, E/A-18G, E-7A, and F-35A aircraft participated in a range of multilateral exercises, including Exercise Red Flag Nellis 25-1 and Exercise Bamboo Eagle 25-1.
“Established in 2024, Exercise Bamboo Eagle simulates the challenges of conducting operations in the Indo-Pacific region, with a specific focus on long-range strike missions, maritime integration, and multi-domain coordination,” Defence said in a statement about Exercise Bamboo Eagle.
LRASM, as well as Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile (JSM), will constitute the bulk of Air Force’s long-range maritime strike capability going forward. Together, the two missiles are set to replace Air Force’s inventory of AGM-84 Harpoon air-launched anti-ship missiles over the coming years. While LRASM will eventually equip Air Force’s P-8A, F-35A and F/A-18F fleets, for now, ADM understands that JSM will only be integrated with RAAF's F-35As.
Australia’s acquisition of LRASM has been a long time coming. In February 2020, the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) announced that it had approved a possible sale of 200 LRASMs to Australia for a total cost of up to US$900 million. Later that year, in July, then-Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced plans to buy an unspecified number of LRASMs for $800 million.
Evidence of the Australian order making its way through the US system came to light in February 2022, when Lockheed Martin was awarded a $US49 million (~$77 million) Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract by the US Navy to integrate and test LRASM on RAAF F/A-18Fs. That contract is set to conclude in March next year.
As of early 2025, $895.5 million has been allocated for the acquisition of LRASM, though the number of missiles being acquired and how many have been delivered to date has not been disclosed.
“The successful firing of the LRASM wouldn’t have been possible without the participation of our allies and industry partners, like the United States and Lockheed Martin,” Minister Marles added.
While LRASM is already in service with US Navy F/A-18E/F Super Hornets and is being integrated with USN P-8As, Australia is as of yet the only F-35A operator who will operate LRASM with that platform.