During RIMPAC’s Sinking Exercise (SINKEX), HMAS Sydney (DDG 42) and USS Fitzgerald (DDG 62), each successfully fired one Naval Strike Missile (NSM) at the former USS Tarawa (LHA 1).
Speaking at the Indian Ocean Defence and Security Conference in Perth, Australia, Chief of Navy of the Royal Australian Navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, hailed how quickly the NSM was introduced into the Australian fleet.
“Last week, we fired our first successful Naval Strike Missile at Exercise RIMPAC. From [the] decision to invest in this capability to test firing, that period represents the fastest introduction into service of long range missile capability in our Navy today,” he told a packed audience in Perth.
The process of introducing the capability occurred in less than three years; Australia selected the NSM for integration on its Anzac class frigates and Hobart class destroyers in April 2022, the contract was signed in January 2023, and the first NSM was fired in July 2024.
It’s expected that all three of the RAN’s Hobart class guided missile destroyers will be fitted with NSM as will the remaining seven Anzac class frigates. The weapon system will also be integrated aboard the six Hunter-class frigates and possibly the new general purpose frigates.
“That [speed] stems from interchangeability, interoperability, [and] partnership between our two navies with industry, within defence between Naval Shipbuilding and Sustainment Group [and the] GWEO (Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise) organisation. That is what teamwork and interoperability and focus looks like,” Vice Admiral Hammond explained while sitting alongside the US Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Lisa Franchetti.
During the conference, he also hinted that more long-range missile capabilities are in the pipeline for the RAN.
“The Royal Australian Navy, though small, is increasing in its lethality. That [NSM] is one example and I look forward to the revelation of others in the future,” he said.
While VADM Hammond didn’t specify what those new capabilities are, during a parliamentary committee hearing last month, he said that the RAN will also introduce the Tomahawk weapons system this year.
“By the end of this year, we’ll go from a legacy fleet in being with a maximum range weapon in the vicinity of 200 km to the incorporation of the Tomahawk capability with a maximum range in excess of 2,500 km,” he told the Australian Senate.
In April 2023 the Australian Government announced the purchase of more than 200 Tomahawk missiles from the US through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) case.
