Defence Minister Robert Hill said the air-to-surface missiles would have the capacity to destroy air and sea targets up to 400 kilometres (250 miles) away and would enter into service between 2007 and 2009.

The new missiles' range would be up to four times the range of any missile now available to the air force, The Australian newspaper reported.

The plan comes amid heightened fears about North Korea's nuclear missile programme and mixed relations with neighbouring Indonesia, widely perceived in Australia as the country's biggest security threat.

Hill said Australia would pay 350 million to 450 million dollars for the missiles, to be used on F/A-18 Hornet fighters and AP-3C Orion maritime surveillance aircraft.

He said the Australian Defence Force (ADF) would be given a choice of three state-of-the-art weapons systems and would advise next year which it wanted.

"The new weapon will significantly enhance the ADF's air strike capability, providing a long-range, accurate and lethal attack against a range of targets including fixed and re-locatable targets on land and sea," Hill said in a statement.

"Combined with the new air-to-air missiles and upgraded precision-guided bombs, Australia's fighter jets will be the region's most lethal capacity for air combat and strike operations," he said.

"The long range of these new missiles will reduce the risk to both aircraft and crew by decreasing their exposure in a high threat environment."

The three options include Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM), described as "a stealthy long-range missile" with a range of up to 400 kilometres.

German company Taurus Systems' KEPD 350 precision-attack cruise missile, with a range of about 350 kilometres, is the second option.

The third is Boeing's Stand-off Land Attack Missile - Expanded Response (SLAM-ER), which is modelled on the Harpoon anti-shipping missile currently used by the ADF. It has a range of more than 250 kilometres.

Australia has taken a leading role in the region on North Korea's nuclear weapon programme, amid fears the isolated Stalinist state might have or might develop missiles which could reach Australia.

It is also deeply concerned about the threat of a terrorist attack by Islamic extremists after the 2002 Bali bombings, which killed 88 Australians, fears heightened by Australia's strong support for Washington over Iraq.

Australia's minister of defense, Senator Robert Hill told journalist's at a "doorstop" press briefing during a visit to an Australian defense equipment manufacturing plant, "We are progressing the follow off � the follow-on stand-off weapons program which gives us a longer range missile for our strike assets and that missile will be attached to the Hornets and the AP-3C Orion aircraft.

"The greatest advantage is its safety of aircrews. It means that weapons can be dispatched further away from the target. That's the trend these days. Now that capabilities will allow us to do that it means that the crews will not be put at the same level of risk."

Asked what signal this sends to Australia's neighbours such as Indonesia, Senator Hill said, "well there's no surprise in this for Indonesia. This has been in our defence capability program for some years.

"They expect us to continue to evolve our capability as new opportunities in terms of science and technology present and the acquisition of stand-off missiles is a logical step in that direction. So in the same way as Indonesia and all of our regional neighbours continue to build their military capabilities so they expect Australia to do so."

Asked if the new capability could trigger some sort of regional arms race, Senator Hill said. there was no likelihood at all. "It's, in the same way as of all of our neighbours continue to evolve their defence capabilities, they know and expect Australia to do likewise. And as I said this follow-on stand-off weapon has been in the Defence Capability Plan for many years.

"What we are doing, the point that we have got to and we can announce today is that a shortlist has been developed from the some years of evaluation on what's available in the marketplace. And the three different missiles that will be now be assessed in detail over the next 12 months have been announced."

As to the suggestion by some people that Indonesia is the only possible target for these sorts of weapons, Senator Hill simply replied, "Indonesia is a friend and neighbour of Australia."

Relations with Indonesia have been rocky since Australia in 1999 led international intervention in East Timor. A recent poll found Indonesia was widely perceived as the nation's greatest external threat.

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