Disbursing US$3.5 Billion, Australia Accelerates Procurement of Two Types of Cruise Missiles

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Disbursing US$3.5 Billion, Australia Accelerates Procurement of Two Types of Cruise Missiles


Although it has canceled the procurement program for the MQ-9B SkyGuardian combat drone from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, and lost US$7.4 million at the risk of the cancellation, it appears that the Australian Department of Defense has another defense allocation, where on 5 April 2022, Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton announced acceleration package for the procurement of cruise missiles for air and sea units.

Quoted from a press release on defense.gov.au (5/4/2022), it was stated that the Australian Government had approved a budget of US$3.5 billion to accelerate the procurement of missile defense equipment.

This massive missile procurement program involves several selected manufacturers, for example Raytheon Australia and Lockheed Martin Australia which have been announced as strategic partners to support the Sovereign Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise programs.

Overall, the cruise missile procurement lines that will be accelerated by the Australian Department of Defense are:


1. AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range (JASSM-ER) for the Royal Australian Air Force

This air-to-surface missile is manufactured by Lockheed Martin. This missile has a length of 4.27 meters, a wingspan of 2.4 meters and a weight of up to one ton. The missile is powered by a Williams International F107-WR-105 turbofan engine. AGM-158B cruising range reaches 925 km.

Although the manufacturer did not mention the speed details, it is said that this missile shot in the subsonic corridor with a WDU-42/B penetrator warhead weighing 450 kg. The price of the AGM-158B JASSM-ER per unit is estimated at US$1.32 million.

JASSM-ER will be prepared by the Australian Air Force to be released from the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Lightning II fighter jets.

2. Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the Royal Australian Navy surface fleet.

The anti-ship missile made by Kongsberg was prepared by the Australian Navy to replace the Harpoon missile which is now installed on the ANZAC Class frigates and Hobart Class destroyers.

The NSM is powered by a solid fuel rocket booster, the Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet, which is capable of launching high subsonic velocity missiles.

The cruising range of this missile is in the range of 185 – 250 km, depending on the target profile. As with anti-ship missiles in general, the NSM flies in the terminal phase in a sea skimming pattern. As a guiding system, it relies on a combination of Inertial, GPS, terrain-reference navigation, imaging infrared homing and a target database.

The NSM weighs 410 kg, is 3.95 meters long and can carry a 125 kg HE blast fragmentation warhead. The NSM is planned to be used by the Australian Navy in 2024.


The Australian Department of Defense said the combination of the NSM and the previously announced Tomahawk cruise missile would be the best combination of capabilities to meet Australia's defense needs.

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