| Industry | Defence |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2021 |
| Headquarters | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
Key people | Lee Goddard (CEO) [1] [2] |
| Products | Missiles |
| Owner | NIOA |
| Website | www |
The Australian Missile Corporation (AMC) is an Australian company specialising in guided and non-guided weapon systems, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Queensland-based Defence Prime Contractor NIOA. It was contracted by the Australian Government as Enterprise Partner to help enable the development of Australia's domestic guided and non-guided weapons capability. Its inaugural and current chief executive officer, Lee Goddard, is a retired Rear Admiral of the Royal Australian Navy. [2]
As part of a 2021 initiative, [3] headed by the Federal Department of Defence, the Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance Enterprise ("GWEO") program is intended to facilitate an Australian domestic missile manufacturing capacity. It is also supported by Aurecon as Enterprise Partner and multinational arms companies Lockheed Martin and Raytheon as Strategic Partners. [4]
GWEO was established under the Prime Ministership of Scott Morrison, whose messaging throughout his career not irregularly touched on the importance of Australia's defence infrastructure and capabilities. [3] A RAND Corporation analysis from 2022 notes the creation of the GWEO was prefaced in the 2020 Defence Strategic Update. [5]
On 3 June 2021, Black Sky Aerospace and Quickstep are among the first companies to partner with the Australian Missile Corporation in their bid for the Australian Government's sovereign guided missiles project. [6]
On 22 August 2022, the AMC agreed to enter into a strategic partnership with American defence contractor Day & Zimmermann. [7]
On 23 August 2022, the AMC received the backings of MBDA, a European guided weapons joint venture of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo. [8]
On 22 September 2022, the AMC formally accepted the contact to become an inaugural Enterprise Partner for the GWEO. [9]
The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile(AMRAAM) ( AM-ram) is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It uses active transmit-receive radar guidance instead of semi-active receive-only radar guidance. When an AMRAAM missile is launched, NATO pilots use the brevity code "Fox Three".
The Meteor is a European active radar guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) developed and manufactured by MBDA. It offers a multi-shot capability, and has the ability to engage highly maneuverable targets such as jet aircraft, and small targets such as UAVs and cruise missiles in a heavy electronic countermeasures (ECM) environment with a range far in excess of 200 kilometres (110 nmi).
The AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is a glide bomb that resulted from a joint venture between the United States Navy and Air Force to deploy a standardized medium range precision guided weapon, especially for engagement of defended targets from outside the range of standard anti-aircraft defenses, thereby increasing aircraft survivability and minimizing friendly losses. It is intended to be used against soft targets such as parked aircraft, trucks, armored personnel carriers (APCs), and surface-to-air missile sites (SAMs). Prior to launch, it is given a destination through either a predesignated waypoint or a point marked through a targeting pod. It glides, using two wings that pop out for added lift, to the marked destination and dispenses submunitions in a short, roughly linear pattern. The designation of the Joint Standoff Weapon as an "air-to-ground missile" is a misnomer, as it is an unpowered bomb with guidance avionics, similar to the older GBU-15.
Brimstone is a ground or air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA UK for the UK's Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for "fire-and-forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetre wave (mmW) active radar homing seeker to ensure accuracy even against moving targets. Experience in Afghanistan led to the addition of laser guidance in the dual-mode Brimstone missile, allowing a "spotter" to pick out specific and the highest priority targets, particularly useful to minimise collateral damage when friendly forces or civilians were in the area. The tandem shaped-charge warhead is much more effective against modern tanks than older similar weapons such as the AGM-65G Maverick missile. Three Brimstones are carried on a launcher that occupies a single weapon station, allowing a single aircraft to carry many missiles.
Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously.
Defence Establishment Orchard Hills is a tri-service munitions storage base of particular importance to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Located in Orchard Hills, in the western suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, the main role of the establishment is for storage, maintenance and distribution of Explosive Ordnance such as Bombs, Bullets, Missiles, and other military explosives. The base is also home to the RAAF-run Defence Explosive Ordnance Training School, which provides training in handling explosives to all branches of the Australian Defence Force, public servants and contractor personnel.
Eurosam GIE is a European manufacturer of anti-air missiles. Eurosam was established in June 1989 for the development of the Famille de missiles Sol-Air Futurs. Eurosam was initially a joint venture between Aérospatiale, Alenia and Thomson-CSF. Now Aérospatiale is a part of MBDA, and Missile and Missile Systems activities of Alenia are now the Italian branch of MBDA. Thomson CSF is now the Thales Group. Thus Eurosam is owned by MBDA France and MBDA Italy as well as Thales Group (33%).
Thales-Raytheon Systems Company LLC is an aerospace and defence company co-headquartered in Massy, Paris, France and Fullerton, California, United States. It is operated as a 50:50 joint venture between Raytheon Technologies and Thales Group.
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), is a missile in current production for the United States Navy (USN). It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes, providing capability against fixed and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aerial vehicles, anti-ship cruise missiles in flight, both over sea and land, and terminal ballistic missile defense. It can also be used as a high-speed anti-ship missile. The missile uses the airframe of the earlier SM-2ER Block IV (RIM-156A) missile, adding the active radar homing seeker from the AIM-120C AMRAAM in place of the semi‑active seeker of the previous design. This will improve the capability of the Standard missile against highly agile targets and targets beyond the effective range of the launching vessels' target illumination radars. Initial operating capability was planned for 2013 and was achieved on 27 November 2013. The SM-6 is not meant to replace the SM-2 series of missiles but will serve alongside and provide extended range and increased firepower. It was approved for export in January 2017. An air-to-air variant of the SM-6, known as the AIM-174, is the first dedicated long-range air-to-air missile employed by the USN since the 2004 retirement of the AIM-54 Phoenix. SM-6 can also be fired from the U.S. Army's Typhon missile launcher as part of the Strategic Mid-range Fires System (SMRF).
The CAMM is a family of surface-to-air missiles developed by MBDA UK for the United Kingdom. CAMM is derived from, and shares some common features and components with, the Advanced Short-Range Air-to-Air Missile (ASRAAM), but with updated electronics, a soft vertical launch system, and an active radar homing seeker. The CAMM family is either currently in-use or has been ordered by ten nations.
The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is a multi-role, air-launched cruise missile under development by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and American company Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The JSM is derived from the Naval Strike Missile.
The GBU-53/B StormBreaker, previously known as the Small Diameter Bomb II, is an American air-launched, precision-guided glide bomb.
SPEAR is a family of air-launched effectors under development by MBDA UK for the Royal Air Force's Select Precision Effects At Range (SPEAR) Capability 3, or SPEAR 3 programme, from which the system also derives its name. The SPEAR family currently consists of two variants: SPEAR, a 100kg class air-to-surface cruise missile; and SPEAR-EW, an electronic warfare variant for stand-in jamming or for use as a decoy.
The Hunter-class frigate is an under construction class of six heavy frigates for the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) to replace the Anzac class.
The Miniature Self-Defense Missile (MSDM) is a US Air Force concept for a weapon designed to take out anti-aircraft missiles. Lacking a warhead, it requires a direct impact to destroy its target. It was first announced in 2015 and is being developed by Raytheon with first fly test expected by 2023.
MBDA UK is the British division of the pan-European missile systems company MBDA. Formed in 2001, the company has developed, both independently and in cooperation, a range of missile systems, including the CAMM missile family, Storm Shadow cruise missile, ASRAAM air-to-air missile and Meteor beyond-visual-range missile (BVRAAM).
NIOA is an Australian armament and munitions company, headquartered in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Nioa family, it is a privately held company which is a supplier of arms and ammunition to the sporting, law enforcement and military markets. Its founder and CEO, Robert Nioa, is the son-in-law of Australian federal politician Bob Katter.
SCIFIRE, or the Southern Cross Integrated Flight Research Experiment, is an American-Australian military technology partnership that is developing a solid-rocket-boosted, air-breathing, hypersonic conventionally-armed cruise missile that can be launched by existing fighter or bomber aircraft.
The Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is a short-range ballistic missile developed by the United States Army to replace the MGM-140 ATACMS. The US Army announced that the first PrSM batch has been delivered in December 2023.
