Australian Precision Technologies has announced through the Australian Defence Alliance it has received a contract from Kongsberg Defence Australia to manufacture precision-machined components for the KONGSBERG Naval Strike Missile (NSM) Launchers delivered under Project SEA 1300. The NSM will replace the Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile capability currently on the Royal Australian ANZAC Class Frigates and HOBART Class Destroyers. The contract will also enable Australian Precision Technologies to invest in more advanced CNC machining technologies and quality control equipment to ensure that high standards of quality are achieved.
“APT has diversified into the Defence and Aerospace industry sectors over the past 15 years, and that has provided us with the opportunities to secure contracts such as this through the culture of the company employees and the strategic outlook required to support defence contracts. The onboarding process with the entire Kongsberg team has provided us with the support and the assistance required to be successful with our tender submission,” said Richard Weinzieri, APT’s Managing Director.
The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The state-of-the-art design and use of composite materials is meant to give the missile sophisticated stealth capabilities. The missile will weigh slightly more than 400 kg (880 lb) and have a range of more than 185 km (115 mi; 100 nmi). NSM is designed for littoral waters (“brown water”) as well as for open sea (“green water and blue water”) scenarios. The usage of a high strength titanium alloy blast/fragmentation warhead from TDW is in line with the modern lightweight design and features insensitive high-explosive.
Australian Precision Technologies will manufacture highly complex precision-machined components utilising state-of-the-art manufacturing technologies and lean management best practices. The components will be manufactured in the Australian Precision Technologies Berwick facility and will present new job opportunities in project management, quality assurance and advanced manufacturing applications. Production and manufacture of the component range required will commence immediately with delivery into the new Kongsberg facility in South Australia in 2024. Commencing in 2024, ANZAC Class frigates and Hobart Class destroyers will have the NSM capability installed.
