Australia signs contract to acquire Joint Strike Missiles for F-35As

A US Air Force Lockheed Martin F-35A Joint Strike Fighter test launches a Kongsberg JSM. The missile, designed for long-range air-to-surface strike, can fit in the F-35's internal weapons bay, allowing the aircraft to preserve its stealth characteristics. (Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency)

The Australian government has signed a contract with Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to acquire Joint Strike Missiles (JSMs) for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft.

The contract, valued at AUD142 million (USD96 million), will “expedite and uplift” Australia's guided weapons capability, Australian Minister for Defence Industry Pat Conroy said on 5 September. The JSM acquisition will also give the RAAF's F-35As a long-range strike capability.

The Australian Department of Defence (DoD) said JSM is designed to fit into the F-35A's internal weapons bay, “preserving the aircraft's stealth characteristics”. The DoD described the acquisition as “accelerated” but did not specify how many missiles would be acquired under the contract.

The JSM is a precision‐guided stand‐off anti‐ship missile employing imaging infrared (IIR), GPS, and inertial navigation system (INS) guidance. The missile has a maximum speed of Mach 0.9 and a range of more than 275 km.

The deal was announced at the opening of Kongsberg Defence Australia's new AUD25 million manufacturing facility in Mawson Lakes, South Australia. This factory will employ 150 personnel to assemble launchers for the JSM's ship-launched counterpart, the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), using “mostly Australian-manufactured components”, the DoD said.