Defence down-selects two contenders for land-based maritime strike

Defence has confirmed it will select from two contenders to equip the Australian Army with a land-based maritime strike capability under Project LAND8113 Ph.2. It has said this will result in the Army fielding a second long-range fires regiment. Defence will conduct a competitive evaluation in 2025, it says.

Defence will select from two options:

• The Precision Strike Missile (PrSM),fired from the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HiMARS) launcher vehicle and acquired under a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) agreement
• The Naval Strike Missile(NSM), fired from the StrikeMaster launcher vehicle and acquired as a commercial sale

For the anti-ship role Australia is contemplating PrSM Increment 2 which has a range of more than 500km and will be equipped with the developmental Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile (LBASM) Seeker designed for moving targets. This seeker was tested in 2023; it is now being integrated into a PrSM Increment 2 weapon and could be operational in 2025 or -26.

In the meantime, the US Army has successfully launched two PrSM Increment 1 weapons from a HiMARS launcher at White Sands Missile Range to demonstrate its effectiveness against static targets. Two PrSM weapons can be fitted into the HiMARS launcher vehicle. Australia could manufacture the PrSM in both Increment 1 and Increment 2 versions under Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, along with the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System – Extended Range (GMLRS-ER).

The Strikemaster program, combining the Kongsberg NSM and launcher with a version of Thales Australia’s proven Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle (PMV), was launched at Land Forces 2022 in Brisbane. The Strikemaster can also carry two NSMs which have a range of more than 250km.

Australia already manufactures, or has signed contracts to manufacture, all of the components of Strikemaster, which closely resembles the US Marine Corps’ recently fielded NMESIS (Navy/Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System). This combines two NSMs with the US Marines’ uncrewed Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary (ROGUE) Fires vehicles. The system has been used with the KC-130J Hercules, a Landing Craft Air Cushion (LCAC) and other platforms.

While the NSM lacks the PrSM’s 500km range, the Bushmaster is designed to be driven on Australian roads; the missiles and launch boxes are identical to those used by the US Marines’ in NMESIS; and all of the components of Strikemaster are or will relatively soon be, in production in Australia.

A competitive evaluation will occur over the course of 2025, Defence says. This follows Defence’s decision in August 2023 to accelerate the acquisition of 42 HIMARS launchers and precision munitions for the Australian Army’s long-range fires formation, the new 10^th Brigade. Together, these capabilities will see two artillery regiments based at the Edinburgh Defence Precinct in South Australia equipped with long-range fires capabilities.