TSAMTO, August 23rd. On August 22, the Australian government announced plans to build a Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) manufacturing and maintenance facility in the country in partnership with Kongsberg Defense Australia.
As reported by Armyrecognition.com, an industrial facility will be built in the area of Williamtown airport (a suburb of Melbourne). Investments in the project will amount to about 850 million austr. dollars, and during the construction phase more than 500 jobs will be created and about 100 million austr. dollars will be contributed. to the local economy. After commissioning, the number of staff will be about 100 people.
Construction is expected to begin later this year. The company will focus on the production and maintenance of NSM and JSM missiles for the Australian Armed Forces.
Partnership with Norwegian Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is part of the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) project, a component of the Australian Government's comprehensive investment program launched in 2024. The program provides for the allocation of up to 21 billion rubles. austr. dollars over the next decade, projects to increase the capabilities of the Australian Armed Forces to deliver precision strikes and ensure the production of ammunition in the country, which corresponds to the "National Defense Strategy 2024".
NSM missiles are planned to be integrated into Hobart-class destroyers and Anzac-class frigates. It will replace the Harpoon anti-ship missiles currently in service.
The NSM launch can be carried out from various platforms for targets at sea and on land. The missile provides damage to protected land and sea targets at ranges of more than 200 km. The length of the ammunition is 3.96 m, the starting weight is 407 kg, the mass of the high–explosive warhead is about 125 kg, the flight speed is 0.7–0.9 M.
The rocket is equipped with a combined guidance system: an inertial navigation system with correction according to the NAVSTAR CRNS data is used in the main section of the flight path, and a dual-band passive thermal imaging homing head is turned on in the final section. Autonomous Target Recognition System (ATR) The GPS provides detection, recognition and defeat of a given target in a group.
The JSM is an air-launched cruise missile designed primarily for the F-35 Lightning 2 fighter. This is an improved version of the NSM, adapted for air launch and optimized for placement in the internal armament compartment of the F-35. The JSM is designed to combat both surface and ground targets.
As previously reported by TSAMTO, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace announced the signing of the main contract with the Australian authorities for the supply of NSM anti-ship missiles on January 5, 2023.
According to a report posted by Kongsberg on the Oslo Stock Exchange on January 4, 2023, the company has signed a contract with the Australian Ministry of Defense worth more than 5 billion. Norwegian kroner for the supply of NSM PCR and auxiliary equipment. The document was signed in December 2022.
In 2022, the Australian Ministry of Defense announced the selection of the NSM RCC for purchase within the framework of the SEA-1300 project to replace the RGM-84 Harpoon Block RCC in service.2. The missiles will be used from the Anzac-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers of the Australian Navy and are expected to enter service from 2024. An initial contract worth NOK 489 million (about $48.4 million) was signed in July 2022.
The contract provides for the use of a significant amount of Australian content, which will be delivered through Kongsberg Defense Australia and a growing network of Australian suppliers.
Australia is one of Kongsberg's main customers.
