عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Australia Says $4.7 Bln Long-Range Missile Deal to Boost Deterrence

TT
TT

Australia Says $4.7 Bln Long-Range Missile Deal to Boost Deterrence

Australia said on Tuesday it would bolster air and missile defense in a A$7 billion ($4.7 billion) deal with the United States to acquire SM-2 IIIC and SM-6 long-range missiles for its navy.
The Australian navy test-fired the Raytheon SM-6 missile from a ship in August during exercises with the United States in Hawaii.
The SM-6 is the most advanced naval air defense missile in the US arsenal, including against ballistic missiles, and has also been tested for striking ships and ground targets, and in air-to-air scenarios.
Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said the SM-6 will be deployed across the navy's Hobart class destroyers and future Hunter class frigates.
"The Standard Missile-6 and Standard Missile 2 Block IIIC will enable our Navy to strike maritime, land and air targets at long-range, and provide a terminal ballistic missile defense capability, boosting the capacity for the ADF to safeguard Australians and their interests," he said in a statement.
Australia said last year it will prioritize long-range precision strike capability and hardening its northern bases in the country's biggest defense shake-up since World War Two, after a review found that intense competition between the US and China was defining the region, and that the major power competition had "potential for conflict".
Australia is enhancing deterrence by rapidly boosting the Navy’s long-range strike capabilities, Tuesday's statement said. Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said Australia faces the "most complex geo-strategic environment since the Second World War".
Australia and the United States are working to upgrade bases in northern and western Australia, which are closer to potential flashpoints with China in the South China Sea than Australia's capital of Canberra.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Thiel’s Palantir Dumped by Norwegian Investor over Work for Israel

The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)
The logo of US software company Palantir Technologies is seen in Davos, Switzerland, May 22, 2022. Picture taken May 22, 2022. (Reuters)

One of the Nordic region's largest investors has sold its holdings in Palantir Technologies because of concerns that the US data firm's work for Israel might put the asset manager at risk of violating international humanitarian law and human rights.

Storebrand Asset Management disclosed this week that it had "excluded Palantir Technologies Inc. from our investments due (to) its sales of products and services to Israel for use in occupied Palestinian territories."

The investor, which manages about 1 trillion crowns ($91.53 billion) in assets, held around 262 million crowns ($24 million) in Palantir, a spokesperson told Reuters. A representative for Palantir, based in Denver, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Storebrand said Palantir had not replied to any of its requests for information, first lodged in April. The data analytics firm, co-founded by billionaire Peter Thiel, provides militaries with artificial-intelligence models. Earlier this year, it agreed to a strategic partnership to supply technology to Israel to assist in the ongoing war in Gaza.

Palantir has previously defended its work for Israel. CEO Alex Karp said he was proud to have worked with the country following the Hamas attacks in October last year and in March told CNBC that Palantir had lost employees and that he expected to lose more over his public support for Israel.

Storebrand's exit follows a recommendation from Norway's government in March warning businesses about engaging in economic or financial activity in the Israeli settlements in the Palestinian territories, the asset manager said in its third-quarter investment review published on Wednesday. The International Court of Justice, the United Nations' highest court, said in July that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories including the settlements was illegal.

Israel's foreign ministry rejected that opinion as "fundamentally wrong" and one-sided, and repeated its stance that a political settlement in the region can be reached only by negotiations.

Storebrand said its analysis indicated that Palantir provides products and services "including AI-based predictive policing systems" that support Israeli surveillance of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

Palantir's systems are supposed "to identify individuals who are likely to launch 'lone wolf terrorist' attacks, facilitating their arrests preemptively before the strikes that it is projected they would carry out," Storebrand said.

It added that, according to the United Nations, Israeli authorities have a history of incarcerating Palestinians without charge or trial. A UN Special Rapporteur said in a 2023 report that "the occupied Palestinian territory had been transformed as a whole into a constantly surveilled open-air prison."

Israel rejected the UN's findings. In September Reuters reported that Norway's $1.7 trillion wealth fund may have to divest shares of companies that violate the fund watchdog's tougher interpretation of ethics standards for businesses that aid Israel's operations in the occupied Palestinian territories.