Australia to manufacture Kongsberg cruise missiles

SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia said it will jointly manufacture long-range Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence in the city of Newcastle on Australia’s eastern coast, the only site outside of Norway.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the Australian government will contribute A$850 million ($573.8 million) to establish a manufacturing facility with Kongsberg at the Newcastle Airport precinct later this year.

The anti-ship cruise missiles would be used by the Australian Defence Force, he said in a statement, and will be one of only two facilities in the world capable of producing the missiles, and the only site outside Kongsberg, Norway.

Australia has said it will establish guided weapons manufacturing under a defence overhaul to boost the Australian Defence Force’s long-range precision strike ability, amid rising tensions in the Indo-Pacific.

It is also developing a hypersonic missile under the AUKUS defence technology partnership with the United States and Britain, and will start co-manufacturing guided missiles with the United States next year.​

“The establishment of the manufacturing facility at the Newcastle Airport precinct will help make Australia more self-reliant and boost war stocks, while supporting the local economy and Australia’s defence industry,” Conroy’s office said in a statement.

($1 = 1.4815 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Kirsty Needham in Sydney; Editing by Stephen Coates)