The Australian government announced on March 25 its intended procurement of a new short-range air defense capability involving the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) from Norway’s Kongsberg and U.S.-based Raytheon’s Australian arm. Australia will purchase two versions of NASAMS, one involving a trailer-mounted six-cell launcher and the other involving four missiles fitted to a Hawkei 4×4 armored vehicle.
Fantastic to announce today the @Raytheon NASAMS which will provide protection for our troops against airborne threats — integrated right here in Adelaide, creating hundreds of jobs, with over $1 billion of the work to be done here in Australia ➡️ https://t.co/SWvwa0mhPv #auspol pic.twitter.com/gRB0MzuYhx
— Christopher Pyne (@cpyne) March 24, 2019
Australian Minister for Defense Industry Linda Reynolds stated that local industry will secure more than AUD1 billion ($708 million) of the AUD2.5 billion ($1.77 billion) program known as Project LAND 19 Phase 7B.
NASAMS is intended to replace the Australian Army’s existing 30-year-old system (based on the Saab RBS70 short-range man-portable air defense system and the Lockheed Martin PSTAR-ER radar) that is slated for retirement in the early 2020s. The new system will provide the innermost layer of Australia’s integrated air and missile capability as outlined in the 2016 Defence White Paper and will be operated by the Army’s 16th Air Land Regiment.
NASAMS was tapped by the Australian government to meet the Project LAND 19 Phase 7B requirement via a Single Supplier Limited tender process on April 10, 2017. Under the project, Raytheon Australia serves as prime contractor, with Kongsberg acting as subcontractor.
NASAMS. Image – Kongsberg
Dan Darling is Forecast International’s director of military and defense markets. In this role, Dan oversees a team of analysts tasked with covering everything from budgeting to weapons systems to defense electronics and military aerospace. Additionally, for over 17 years Dan has, at various times, authored the International Military Markets reports for Europe, Eurasia, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.
Dan's work has been cited in Defense News, Real Clear Defense, Asian Military Review, Al Jazeera, and Financial Express, among others, and he has also contributed commentary to The Diplomat, The National Interest and World Politics Review. He has been quoted in Arabian Business, the Financial Times, Flight International, The New York Times, Bloomberg and National Defense Magazine.
In addition, Dan has made guest appearances on the online radio show Midrats and on The Media Line, as well as The Red Line Podcast, plus media appearances on France 24 and World Is One News (WION).
