Persistent, destructive defense – Australia displays StrikeMaster
BRISBANE ($1=1.53 AUD) — Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace and Thales Australia unveil a prototype of its latest Coast Guard system – StrikeMaster. The prototype is already on display at the LandForces 2022 exhibition starting today in Brisbane, Australia.
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BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that this is not the first presentation of this system, but it is the first prototype shown live. A mock-up of the StrikeMaster was unveiled at the Indo-Pacific 2022 exhibition earlier this year.
The StrikeMaster was developed to meet the requirements of the Australian Coast Guard. It is a low-risk solution firing land-based anti-ship missiles. Firepower is provided by Norway’s Kongsberg, while the chassis is a Bushmaster Ute from Thales Australia.
Bushmaster UTE
Powered by a Caterpillar 3126E 7.2L six-cylinder diesel, turbocharged engine delivering 224 kW [300 hp] at 2,200rpm 1,166 Nm [860 lb⋅ft] at 1,440rpm. The transmission is ZF 6HP502 ECOMAT G2 [six forward speeds, one reverse]. Its suspension is Arvin Meritor 4000 series fully independent, progressive coil spring with the upper control arm and lower wishbone. The vehicle is armored: ballistic exceeds STANAG 4569 and depending on the configuration the armor is from level 1 to level 3.
The missiles
Anti-ship missiles are Naval Strikes Missiles [NSM]. The selected model is the Block A1 strike missile. This missile is well known in Australia as it is already in service with the Royal Australian Navy.
Each StrikeMaster is armed with a set of two-strike NSMs. The system is made up of two independent modules – one for each of the two missiles. The same modules, according to Australian sources, will be integrated on two ships of the Hobart and Anzac class. For Australia, this is a good budget solution as it saves additional development investment.
After launch, the rocket is powered by a solid-fuel rocket booster, a Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet engine, which develops supersonic speed and reaches a range of 185 km. The missile is controllable and the integrated guidance system is based on inertial, GPS, terrain-reference navigation, imaging infrared homing, and target database.
Fire Direction Centre
A variant of NASAMS is the command and control backbone for the StrikeMaster system. Sources say minor tweaks will be made to the software. In this way, the “anti-ship” function of the system will be facilitated. This entire configuration is part of StrikeMaster’s Fire Direction Centre.
At this time, there is no information about the radar that will be used. Media in Australia are speculating that CEA Technology will most likely be involved in its construction.
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