Kongsberg, Thales conduct first StrikeMaster live firing
Kongsberg and Thales have conducted a live firing of a Kongsberg NSM test munition from Thales Australia's Bushmaster PMV in Norway. (Kongsberg)
Kongsberg and Thales have conducted the first live firing of StrikeMaster, their jointly developed land-based maritime strike platform, Kongsberg announced on 23 October.
According to Kongsberg, the live firing of StrikeMaster, which integrates the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM) onto a flatbed utility version of Thales Australia's Bushmaster protected mobility vehicle (PMV), was conducted in Norway. The test munition, known as a blast test vehicle (BTV), comprising the NSM's boost rocket motor, wasdeployed at the live-fire activity.
“This activity demonstrates the suitability of the Thales Australia's Bushmaster Utility variant as a launch platform for Kongsberg's NSM, confirming StrikeMaster as a low-risk solution to deliver on Australia's long-range strike requirements,” Kongsberg added.
Kongsberg and Thales are offering StrikeMaster for Australia's Land 8113 Phase 2 programme to meet an Australian Army requirement for a land-based maritime strike capability for deployment by the army's second Long Range Fires Regiment. If selected, StrikeMaster would be built across Kongsberg's Adelaide and Thales Australia's Bendigo defence equipment production facilities.
In December 2024, the Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said it was considering for the requirement StrikeMaster or Lockheed Martin's Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) Increment (Inc) 2, fired from the same company's High-Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).
According to Kongsberg, the NSM is a long-range anti-ship missile that can be fired from naval and land-based launchers interchangeably without modifications. Kongsberg has said the NSM is “stealthy, passive, and sea-skimming”, which makes the missile difficult to detect. It has a range of 250 km.
StrikeMaster features a Bushmaster PMV flatbed variant known as the Bushmaster Armoured Combat Support Vehicle
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