State of play: Australia’s munitions stockpiles and the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise

USSC Briefing Room

The war in Ukraine was a wake-up call for nations around the world as they saw how quickly one crisis could consume the national supply of certain munitions. The Australian Government addressed this in both its 2023 Defence Strategic Review and 2024 National Defence Strategy through the prioritisation of the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) and acceleration of the GWEO enterprise. However, these aspirations are a long way from becoming reality and bridging the gap from where we are now to where we want to be is a key focus of the United States Studies Centre (USSC).

How depleted are munitions stockpiles after Ukraine? How does GWEO address Australia’s defence needs? What can Australia learn from others about how to stand up this new production capacity?

In June, USSC brought Senior Fellow and Director with the Defense Program at the Center for a New American Security Dr Stacie Pettyjohn to Australia to speak to our Women in the Alliance Network and she joined us on the podcast to reflect on these questions and the discussions she had while in Australia.

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