Canberra to Invest A$850 Million In Kongsberg's Australian Missile Facility

The Australian Government has announced an A$850 million investment in a new missile facility to be built by Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence in Williamtown, New South Wales.

The factory, KONGSBERG's first outside Norway, will manufacture Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint-Strike Missiles (JSM) for the Australian Defence Force,  According to a statement by Kongsberg.

Making a statement on the subject, Australian Defence Procurement Minister Pat Conroy announced that the construction of the new missile facility to be built by Kongsberg will begin in 2024, while underlining that more than 100 missiles will be produced per year when the facility reaches full capacity in 2028.

Pat Conroy also said, ''This investment is about investing in our advanced, high-tech manufacturing industry and developing our dominant defence industrial base in areas identified as strategic priorities.''

Australian officials underlined that the new missile facility will be the only one of its kind in the world, apart from the facility in Kongsberg, Norway, and stated that this development will contribute to the supply chain in the Indo-Pacific.

The NSM and JSM missiles will be used with Australian F-35A jets and, in the future, by the Navy’s warships. The NSM is slated to replace the Harpoon missile on various Australian naval vessels, with recent tests conducted by the HMAS Sydney.