CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand — Australia and the local subsidiary of Norway-based Kongsberg are to establish a new missile production site in the country, joining other global munitions companies in a multibillion-dollar local project to ramp up munitions production.
Construction of the new plant is expected to begin before the end of the year. Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) will be produced and maintained here.
Canberra is contributing up to A$850 million – about US$578 million – to the project. The Kongsberg plant, which employs 100 people, will be located on the airport site in Newcastle, New South Wales – the first plant of its kind outside Norway.
A spokesperson for Kongsberg Defence Australia told Defence News: “Construction will take approximately 18 months and we expect the facility to be completed in the second quarter of 2026.”
At that point, it will go through a commissioning and certification process, with “the start of rocket production from 2027, ramping up to full production capacity by the end of 2028.”
The new facility will primarily produce weapons for the Australian Defence Force, but the company expects to have capacity to serve other customers in the region in the future, the spokesperson said.
Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, said the expansion follows “strong international demand” for the company’s offensive missiles
Although the Australian Air Force has not yet ordered the JSM, the government’s Integrated Investment Program has indicated it is exploring options for fitting the weapon to F-35A fighter jets.
Meanwhile, the NSM will replace Harpoon missiles on Australia’s Anzac-class frigates and Hobart-class destroyers under an agreement signed in December 2022. Incidentally, an Australian destroyer first fired an NSM during exercise RIMPAC 2024 in July.
The announcement of the missile factory coincided with the news that Kongsberg Defence Australia would join Lockheed Martin Australia and Raytheon Australia as the third strategic partner in the government’s Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise.
GWEO was established last year and is the agency responsible for expanding Australia’s weapons production capacity.
The program has so far prioritized four weapons for Australian production: the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, the Evolved SeaSparrow Missile, 155mm artillery ammunition and the NSM.
“It’s about investing in our advanced, high-tech manufacturing industry and developing our sovereign defence industrial base in areas that have been identified as strategic priorities, which in turn means we can accelerate the delivery of capability to the nation’s armed forces,” said Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy.