Click here - to select or create a menu

Naval News

DSEI Japan 2023
  • News
  • Event News
    • SNA 2023
    • Euronaval 2022
    • Indo Pacific 2022
    • Sea Air Space 2022
    • DIMDEX 2022
  • Interviews
  • Videos
  • Advertising
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
Home» News»Is NSM a shoo-in for Australia’s Land Based Anti-Ship Missile?
StrikeMaster
StrikeMaster scale model on Kongsberg's booth during INDO PACIFIC 2022

Is NSM a shoo-in for Australia’s Land Based Anti-Ship Missile?

Benjamin Felton 03 Aug 2022

The Kongsberg-Thales “StrikeMaster” is still the only confirmed competitor for the Australian Army’s land-based anti-ship missile project, Project Land 4100 Phase 2. Several potential competitors with a significant presence in the Australian market, contacted for comment by Naval News, declined to confirm if they will submit bids for the effort. 

Lockheed Martin 

James Heading, Senior Manager for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, told Naval News that:  

“Lockheed Martin Australia is collaborating with Thales Australia in the design, development and production of Lockheed Martin’s Long Range Anti-Ship Missile – Surface Launch (LRASM SL) variant, with a specific focus on booster and rocket motor technologies. This partnership will advance the proven and mature LRASM maritime strike capability across further platforms for the next generation of surface and ground launch domains.” 

LRASM Indo Pacific 2022
LRASM display on Lockheed Martin stand at Indo Pacific 2022.

An in-depth profile of LRASM SL, and the ongoing collaboration between Lockheed and Thales Australia, can be found here. Out of all the potential offerings, LRASM-SL has by far the longest reach, at least based on open-source data.  

Saab

Contacted for comment by Naval News Saab, which produces the RBS-15 anti-ship missile, said that while they were aware of the program, they had yet to decide on their level of involvement. 

“Saab is aware of the project but at this time Saab has yet to determine our level of involvement, if any.” 

The RBS-15, in various configurations, is used by several countries including Finland and Croatia as a road-mobile anti-ship missile platform. 

A render of an RBS-15 being launched from a mobile platform (Saab)

StrikeMaster Prototype On The Way 

While other companies were understandably tight-lipped, Kongsberg Defence Australia provided detailed answers to questions posed by Naval News. Kongsberg confirmed to Naval News that, if all goes to plan, Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers will be integrated onto a Bushmaster vehicle by the end of this calendar year. 

“The NSM being acquired for DDG/FFH is identical to the NSM for StrikeMaster. Missiles can be used interchangeably between the platforms. Kongsberg believes the use of common family of missiles across multiple platforms offers the Commonwealth enormous flexibility and lower cost of ownership” 

The first actual NSM missiles for Australia, which are currently being acquired under Project SEA 1300, will enter the country in 2024. Kongsberg also told Naval News that, unless directed by the Department of Defence, they don’t expect to perform a Strikemaster-specific live-fire test. 

No News on Blue Spear 

Israel Aerospace Industries, ST Engineering and their joint venture Proteus Advanced Systems didn’t respond to detailed questions from Naval News about their Blue Spear missile before publication. Last year, Proteus Advanced Systems confirmed the sale of an unspecified number of Blue Spear missiles and land-based launchers to Estonia.

Anti-ship missile Australia Naval Strike Missile 2022-08-03
Tags Anti-ship missile Australia Naval Strike Missile
Facebook Twitter Stumble linkedin Pinterest More

Authors

Posted by : Benjamin Felton
Benjamin is a freelance writer based in Australia. He covers Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the wider Pacific region for Naval News.

Related Articles

What does Australia’s Strategic Review hold for the RAN?

What does Australia’s Strategic Review hold for the RAN?

Benjamin Felton 20 Dec 2022
Australia’s Defence Strategic Review (DSR) is set to be publicly released in March next year. Here are a few hints on how it could impact the Royal Australian Navy (RAN)...
Royal Netherlands Navy Selects NSM – Naval Strike Missile

Royal Netherlands Navy Selects NSM – Naval Strike Missile

Xavier Vavasseur 12 Dec 2022
The Royal Netherlands Navy (Koninklijke Marine) has selected Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile (NSM) as the replacement for its ageing Harpoon anti-ship missiles.
ROKN Training Group Arrives in Sydney Amid Submarine Speculation

ROKN Training Group Arrives in Sydney Amid Submarine Speculation

Benjamin Felton 03 Nov 2022
A Republic of Korea Navy (ROKN) cruise training task group arrived in Sydney, Australia on October 30th for a five-day port call...

Advertisement

Advertisement

Legal / Privacy Policy
About Us
Contact Us

Copyright © 2022 Naval News
All Rights Reserved
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok