SYDNEY — Senior Australian military commanders on Thursday said the country is on track to reshape the nation’s antimissile air defenses despite recent public criticism.


Officials said their immediate focus is knitting together systems and sensors to detect enemy threats before buying the weapons to shoot them down.


Senior Australian military commanders said Thursday the country’s program to build an integrated military network connecting sensors, radars and weapons such as warships and fighter aircraft to protect against missile attack was proceeding with “pace.”


However, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organization that receives funding from the Canberra government as well as governments overseas, has said repeatedly that Australia’s efforts to set up an integrated battle management system were moving too slowly and that such capability “must be delivered urgently.”


Analysts say Australia’s focus on missiles, drones and warships relates to the possibility of an Indo-Pacific region conflict between China and the United States.


Air Commodore Benjamin Sleeman of the Royal Australian Air Force told reporters in Canberra on Thursday that developing an effective air defense system takes time.


“There is no use buying whatever missile or whatever launch system or whatever radar you have if you do not have the right thing to plug it into,” Sleeman said. “You will just have another system sitting out there.


“We have got some really great systems, and then we will look at procuring those other things when the timing is right,” he said.


Australia’s Joint Air Battle Management System is known as AIR6500.


Last year, Australia chose the U.S. weapons company Lockheed Martin as its strategic partner. The first phase of the project is a new system to control missiles used to shoot down incoming enemy attacks.


Australia has a security alliance with the United States dating to the early 1950s. The Australian government is working with the U.S. and Japan to develop systems to protect against air and missile attack.  Analysts say that conflicts in Israel and Ukraine have illustrated the importance of protecting civilians and infrastructure from missiles and drones.


The 2021 AUKUS accord among the United States, Britain and Australia is aimed at giving Australia access to nuclear-powered submarines for the first time.


The trilateral accord is widely seen as a counter to China’s growing Indo-Pacific region influence. Beijing has been steadfast in its criticism of the pact, saying Australia and its allies had “gone down a dangerous road for their own selfish political gains.”

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