Australia is advancing plans to build solid rocket motors (SRMs) locally, following an announcement in late April that Northrop Grumman was selected to establish SRM manufacturing.
SRMs provide the propulsion for most guided weapons, which the Commonwealth is moving to assemble locally through the GWEO Enterprise.
Northrop Grumman has seven decades of experience building SRMs and has produced more than 1.3 million motors in that time, one of which was that used in the Lockheed Martin in the Australian Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMRLS) demonstrator in May 2026.
The company makes over half of the tactical SRMs required by the United States with a well-established supply chain.
These include boost and sustain motors and more advanced propulsion settings including dual-pulse, multi-pulse, upper-stage and divert-and-attitude.
The Australian announcement covers $126.9 million in initial funding to demonstrate local SRM manufacture using upgraded facilities at the government-owned munitions factory at Mulwala, NSW.
In the longer-term, these locally made SRMs would be sold to Lockheed Martin for integration into the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, the munition used for Australia’s new HIMARS capability operated by 14th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery.
HIMARS has been one of Ukraine’s most effective weapons platforms to strike Russian hubs behind the front lines.
Northrop Grumman says it is about to begin formal industry engagements to find local suppliers for many key SRM parts.
Some SRM components will be more difficult to establish production in Australia than others such as ignition safety devices and these will come from the US in the interim.
Yet both Northrop Grumman and the Commonwealth say they share the same aspiration to achieve 100 per cent Australian-made solid rocket motors.
A challenge for Northrop Grumman will be volume: Australia is unlikely to order enough SRMs to make a strong business case for a local line.
Yet the company is optimistic that Australia has the expertise and local capability to integrate into the global supply chain, particularly as demand for SRMs spikes alongside wider demand for air defence munitions and other guided weapons.
Northrop Grumman is committed to uplifting Australian industry to support all stages of solid rocket motor production to grow the sovereignty of Australian made guided weapons.
The local program will proceed in three phases: the demonstration of SRM manufacture as a proof of concept for GMLRS production, as funded in April’s announcement; qualification; and production.
Northrop Grumman is currently contracted to deliver the first phase to the Commonwealth, though the government has set 2030 as the deadline for SRM production for GMLRS from Mulwala.
Concurrently, the first successful test flight of a fully Australian-designed and manufactured advanced solid rocket motor took place at the Koonibba Test Range near Ceduna, South Australia, on 6 August.
The KR3.0 solid rocket motor used in the flight test was co-developed with and manufactured by the industry small and medium enterprise network lead by Thales.
Yet much remains unclear on the future of local SRM manufacture. The April announcement also put forward a Rocket Motor Manufacturing Complex (RMMC), though no further detail has been released.
ADM understands the Commonwealth has yet to choose a location for this complex, nor an ownership structure.
One possibility is land adjacent to the Hanwha Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence outside Avalon Airport, Victoria. Lockheed Martin has a storage facility in the same precinct and ADM understands the company is considering expanding its footprint there.
Notably, the Avalon business precinct sits in the electorate of Minister for Defence Richard Marles.
Currently, however, the established contract is for the demonstration of SRM manufacture for GMLRS at Mulwala. Northrop Grumman is aiming for this to take place next year.