HMAS Sydney fires Royal Australian Navy’s first Naval Strike Missile during a SINKEX off the coast of Oahu, Hawaii as a part of Exercise Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) 2024. (RAN LSIS Daniel Goodman)

SYDNEY — In a major breakthrough for Australia’s efforts to build and maintain complex precision-guided munitions and missiles on its shores, the government here plans to invest up to $850 million in partnership with Kongsberg Defence Australia to manufacture and service the advanced Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile.

The Australian investment was announced by Pat Conroy, minister for defense procurement, in Canberra today. A factory will be built close to where Australia maintains its F-35 fleet, at the Newcastle Airport in New South Wales, with about 100 people employed.

The move is strategic for Australia, as now the countries throughout the Indo-Pacific that use the weapons will be able to rely on a much shorter supply chain.

The Joint Strike Missile is a key weapon for the F-35, which carries it internally, meaning the aircraft can maintain its advanced stealth characteristics until firing. (Australia first expressed interest in the JSM in 2014.) Current or future Pacific F-35 operators include Japan, Singapore, South Korea and, of course, the United States.

The NSM is being bought by the Royal Navy for its Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers. Both the JSM and the NSM are fifth-generation subsonic weapon measures close to four meters long, use integrated sensors and autonomous targeting recognition for long-range precision strikes against ships and land-based targets. The NSM will be mounted on the Hobart-class destroyers and Anzac class frigates, and replaces the Harpoon.

Australia test-fired the NSM, which has a range of 200 miles, from the HMAS Sydney in July. Japan, Malaysia and the United States are all regional navies that use the weapon.

“The factory will manufacture and service Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) to be used by the Australian Defence Force (ADF). It will be one of only two facilities in the world capable of producing NSM and JSM with the other site in Kongsberg, Norway,” a government statement said.

In an important step for something Australia calls the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise, the government is adding Kongsberg Defence Australia as a strategic partner. It joins Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. The GWEO is “backed by a commitment of up to $21 billion over the coming decade through the Government’s 2024 Integrated Investment Program,” the statement notes.