Kongsberg Defence Australia (KDA) has signed a five-year agreement with prime contractor Raytheon Australia to provide sustainment services for the Australian Army’s Project LAND 19 Phase 7B Short-Range Ground-Based Air Defence system (SRGBAD).

Based on Kongsberg’s NASAMS system, the LAND 19 Phase 7B solution uses the Australian-developed CEA Technologies phased-array radars as its primary sensors, and will incorporate AIM-9X and AMRAAM missiles for the air defence mission. The key elements of the system are being integrated with Australian Army Rheinmetall HX-series trucks and Thales Australia Hawkei protected mobility vehicles.

As part of the contract, KDA will be responsible for supporting elements of the system it supplies, including the Fire Distribution Centre (FDC), Canister Launcher, and NASAMS Classroom Trainer. The company will also provide a number of Field Service Representatives to support other sustainment work.

“This announcement highlights the close partnership shared between the KONGSBERG teams in Norway and Australia both working together to ensure our local workforce has the technical skills and expertise to support this transformational capability for the Australian Army,” KDA General Manager, John Fry said in a 13 February company release.

The enhanced-NASAMS solution was selected for LAND 19 Phase 7B in March 2019 and the contract with the Commonwealth was signed in June 2019. Since that time work has been undertaken in Norway and Australia to bring the components of the system together at Raytheon Australia’s new Centre for Joint Integration (CJI) at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide.

A number of Australian companies including CEA Technologies, Sydney-based Eylex, and Adelaide’s Daranmont Technologies and Zenith Custom Creations have been involved in the manufacture of key components of the system, providing sovereign capability for the program.