Army extends its reach with new guided missiles

The army’s plans to extend its lethal range are gathering pace.

US Marines HiMARS simulates live-fire missions during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland. Picture: US Marine Corps

The Australian Army’s plans to extend its lethal range are gathering pace. Later this year it plans to test fire an Australian-assembled Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) for the first time under a Guided Weapons Production Capability risk reduction contract worth some $37m.

The GMLRS, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, has a range of about 70km and its Extended Range version, which could also be built in Australia in the future, has a reach of 150km.

In early June, Defence announced a $460m Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Pentagon for local production and follow-on development of Lockheed Martin’s 500km-range Precision Guided Missile (PrSM). The Royal Australian Artillery will operate both Increment 1 and the future Increment 2 which will tackle moving targets such as ships. Increment 1 has just entered US Army service.

The MoU opens the door for Australian industry to provide locally manufactured components into the global PrSM supply chain.

Both missiles will be fired from High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HiMARS) vehicles, which can carry six GMLRS or two of the larger PrSMs.

Two HiMARS made by Lockheed Martin were officially handed over at the Avalon Airshow in March. The army will eventually have 42 HiMARS and an initial 300 GMLRS missiles under phase 1 of Project LAND8113.

Two Australian Army High Mobility Artillery Rocket System's (HiMARS), the first land-based missile system acquired for the army’s long-range strike capability, at Avalon airport earier this year.

Australian-manufactured missiles will be built in-country from local components at the planned $316m Australian Weapons Manufacturing Complex (the site of which has not been named as yet), according to James Heading, Lockheed Martin Australia’s general manager, missiles and fire control.

This should be fully operational by 2029 and able to produce up to 4000 GMLRS missiles each year for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and export customers. By comparison, Lockheed Martin’s plant in East Camden, Arkansas, will produce more than 12,000 this year.

ADF demand for GMLRS will be far less than 4000 rounds a year, according to Heading. “This scale is designed not only to meet Australia’s needs but also to make the venture economically viable by supplying allies and partners,” he said, “positioning Australia as a contributor to global weapons supply chains rather than a mere consumer”.

The initial batch of Australian-made GMLRS will be assembled from US-supplied warheads, ­casings and rockets. The company will eventually manufacture the entire missile in Australia, and Melbourne companies AW Bell and Marand have already won contracts to manufacture components.

Thales Australia runs Defence’s explosives manufacturing and filling centres at Mulwala and Benalla, which produce ammunition, warheads and rocket motors.

“Lockheed Martin Australia and Thales Australia (have) signed a teaming agreement to explore opportunities to advance the development and production of solid rocket motors in Australia,” Heading said.

HiMARS live-fire display during the Exercise Talisman Sabre 2023 at Shoalwater Bay Training Area, Queensland.

Lockheed Martin’s goal is to help establish a reliable Solid Rocket Motor supply chain in Australia so it can meet Defence’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise (GWEO) objectives.

The establishment of the AWMC and, later this year, of an Australian sovereign SRM manufacturing facility (at another site that has not been named as yet), represents a significant milestone for the GWEO Enterprise.

As well as Thales Australia, L3Harris Australia (teamed with Queensland’s NIOA Group), Northrop Grumman Australia, Anduril Australia and local ­company Black Sky Aerospace have put their hands up as potential participants in the GWEO SRM contract.

GWEO has invested more than $4.3bn in local manufacture or ­acquisition of extended-range strike and anti-radar missiles, Tomahawk cruise missiles and laser-guided bombs.

Last year it funded the manufacture at RAAF Base Williamtown of Norwegian company Kongsberg’s 250km range Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Joint Strike Missile (JSM), which can arm warships and the F-35A Lightning II, and be used against both moving ships and static land targets. The contract, worth more than $850m, will see the new plant deliver ­missiles to the ADF from 2027.

Kongsberg has also teamed with Thales Australia to offer the army the Strikemaster, a Thales Bushmaster vehicle fitted with a two-round NSM launcher that can be fired at maritime targets, under Project LAND8113 Phase 2. The US Marine Corps already uses the same NSM missiles and launcher to carry out maritime strikes.

PrSM Increment 2 is the other contender in this project, which will see the army raise a second long-range fires regiment, Heading said. It will have a multi-mode seeker head developed in part by Defence. Although it is still in its technical development phase, it is due to enter US Army service in 2027, a year ahead of schedule.