Roketsan, a major Turkish weapons manufacturer and defence contractor, exhibited at Avalon for the first time after executives were impressed by a visit to the 2013 show.
Their large display included the SOM-A long range stand-off air to surface missile, the smaller J-variant of which is being jointly developed by Roketsan and Lockheed Martin for internal carriage on the Joint Strike Fighter or external carriage on other aircraft.
As such, this effectively puts it in competition with the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile, on which Defence Minister Kevin Andrews announced Norwegian-Australian cooperation on 26 February.
ustralian will cooperate with the Norwegian Ministry of Defence to develop Kongsberg’s Joint Strike Missile (JSM) as a potential future weapon for Australia’s F-35A Joint Strike Fighters.
The Kongsberg Defence Aerospace JSM system is a fifth-generation, long range precision guided stand-off missile designed for both Anti Surface Warfare (ASuW) and Naval Fire Support (NFS) missions over land, sea and the littoral.
At four metres long and weighing around 400kg, it can be carried externally or internally by the F-35A, but is too large for the F-35B’s smaller internal weapons bay.
A stealthy shape and use of terrain profile matching navigation are designed to minimise detection and help the missile fly dynamic, unpredictable profiles to target.
Norway intends to buy up to 52 F-35A aircraft and will field the Joint Strike Missile early in the next decade for its own fleet, but is also attempting to interest other F-35A customers.
Although Australia won’t formally consider buying the JSM until later this decade, early participation has ensured the system will be understood and compatible should an order be placed.
But Australian industry has been part of the program since development began in 2008. QinetiQ Australia has been providing mission planning support to Kongsberg for the Joint Strike Missile since 2008.
QinetiQ software developers have created a tool for JSM that allows JSF pilots to visualise the best route to fly to maintain connectivity with the JSM after launch, in case of a post-launch target change, mission abort, safe detonation and/or damage assessments.
BAE Systems Australia has been working with Kongsberg on the electronics for a second, independent sensor within the missile to identify hostile radar targets.
“BAE Systems Australia will deliver a pre-production passive RF sensor in April 2015 for the JSM program,” BAE Systems Director, Land and Integrated Systems, Graeme Bent, said. “This will involve fit checks, system integration and flight testing for a development-standard missile in order to demonstrate it provides enhanced operational capability.”
This article first appeared in Australian Defence Magazine VOL.23 No.4, April 2015