Australia and Canada will enter a new partnership for air and missile defence research as part of a joint aim for security in the Indo-Pacific region.
Defence ministers for Canada and Australia, Bill Blair and Richard Marles, announced on Saturday that each country will contribute $C237 million ($A260 million) over five years on a project to understand emerging missile threats.
Under the arrangement, the nations will collaborate on developing detection, monitoring, targeting and counter-measure technologies.
Defence Minister Richard Marles announced the $260 million project over five years. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
"As potential adversaries continue to develop more advanced missiles... new solutions are required to defeat these threats," the ministers wrote in a statement.
"This collaboration on integrated air and missile defence research and development is mutually beneficial, contributing directly to our shared objective of security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond."
The agreement aligns with both governments, with missile defence has been prioritised in Australia's National Defence Strategy and Integrated Investment program.
Defence against advanced cruise missiles and hypersonic weapons which combine high speed, increasing range and manoeuvrability will be included in the research, with the latter marked as a priority for Canada's billion-dollar science and technology NORAD modernisation plan.
The statement highlighted the "long history" of Canada-Australia collaboration on defence science and technology, including under the Five Eyes science and technology alliance.
The ministers added the partnership "will fast-track understanding of advanced missile technologies and inform next-generation defence solutions".