StrikeMaster is being marketed as a low-risk solution to fulfil the Australian Army’s requirement for deployable, land-based, anti-ship missiles under project LAND 4100 Phase 2. The concept integrates a pair of Naval Strikes Missiles (NSM) on a previously neglected variant of the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV) to create a mobile coastal defense system.
An important part of Kongsbergs pitch to the Australian Army is the rapid pace that StrikeMaster could be procured. This is largely driven by its extensive commonality with existing and planned Australian Defence Force (ADF) systems.
As displayed at INDO PACIFIC 2022 StrikeMaster consists of two Block 1A Naval Strike Missiles (NSM), which are also being procured by the Royal Australian Navy, mounted onboard a Bushmaster “Ute” (Australian shorthand for a pickup truck) variant built by Thales Australia.
The two missiles are each housed in self-contained modules, which are identical to ship-based versions, such as those that will be installed aboard the Navy’s Hobart and Anzac class vessels. This allows for economies of scale in the procurement of a standard, medium-range Australian anti-ship missile, for both Army and Navy. The set up is also similar to the U.S. Marine Corps NMESIS system, albeit the later is an unmanned version of the JLTV.
Command and Control(C2) for the StrikeMaster system would be provided by a Fire Direction Centre (FDC), which is already in production for the Army’s new NASAMS Short-Range Ground-Based Air Defence Capability. Only a software change would be needed to facilitate the new, anti-ship, mission.
An optional radar, which could be built by Australian company CEA technologies, could also be integrated into the wider system.
