Raytheon and Kongsberg providing short range ground based air defence for Australia.

On March 25, Raytheon Australia and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace joined Defence Minister, Christopher Pyne, and South Australian Premier, Steven Marshall, to announce that the National Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, NASAMS, was selected for the Australian Government’s Short Range Ground Based Air Defence program known as LAND19 Phase 7B.

NASAMS mounted on AM General Humvee. In Australia, the launching vehicle will be the Thales Hawkei (Picture source: Army Recognition)

NASAMS is a short to medium range air defence system owned by nine countries and has been integrated into the U.S. National Capital Region’s air defense system since 2005. In addition to the U.S., Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands, Oman, Lithuania, Indonesia and one undisclosed country have chosen to depend on NASAMS for homeland defense and the defense of critical assets.

“NASAMS and Raytheon’s unique EO/IR passive sensor gives Australia one of the most advanced short-range ground-based defense systems in the world,” said Michael Ward, Managing Director of Raytheon Australia.”

The NASAMS acquisition brings transformational change to the Army’s existing force protection capability, including a progression from man-portable GBAD capability to a fully networked and distributed system. These advancements allow the Army to counter complex air threats beyond visual range and significantly increases protection coverage for Australian soldiers. The system will eventually become the inner tier of Australia’s integrated air and missile defense capability.

System integration and final assembly will take place in the new Raytheon Australia Centre for Joint Integration, which will be built in the defense industry precinct of Mawson Lakes with a (AUD) $50 million investment from Raytheon. At the groundbreaking today, Michael Ward thanked the South Australian Premier for providing support from the government of South Australia for the facility.

The centre will be the company’s first production facility in Australia. Raytheon Australia anticipates the creation of approximately 200 jobs over the next year during the construction of the building and an estimated 300 additional jobs in the coming years for those working on LAND19 and other integrated air and missile defense projects, including the combat system upgrades to the Hobart Class destroyers.

Raytheon Australia and Kongsberg are building sovereign capability in this area as evidenced by their national industry roadshow where the companies engaged with almost 200 local firms. Additionally, Raytheon Australia has ambitions to export elements of the system from the new Adelaide facility.