Australian armed forces reached important stage in strengthening air defense and granted Kongsberg NASAMS SAM system Full Operational Capability status. Meaning this air defense system now meets all requirements and is fully combat-ready.
In announcement published by Australian defense department this week, it is noted decision was made after 16th Regiment of Royal Australian Artillery conducted successful live firings.
Read more: Thailand Revives 70-Year-Old M42 Duster AA Guns on M41 Tank Chassis, Could They Fight Drones?
Overall timeline from order to achieving full combat readiness was over seven years. Contract for two batteries, each comprising three SAM systems, at total value of 1.5 billion Australian dollars (then approximately $1 billion USD) was concluded in 2019. Australian armed forces received first systems in 2023.
At same time, worth noting Australia decided to receive its own NASAMS version. Instead of American AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar from Raytheon, Australians integrated their own CEA Technologies CEATAC.
Battery composition also included mobile High Mobility Launcher on Hawkei armored vehicle chassis, which to certain extent increases NASAMS mobility. Also SAM system was fully integrated with Australian command and control systems.
Recall for target destruction NASAMS uses AIM-120 and AIM-9X air-to-air missiles. Officially maximum target engagement range was not announced, but estimates suggest up to 25 km with AIM-120C-8 missiles and up to 12 km with AIM-9X, while using newest AMRAAM-ER, estimates increase to 40-50 km.
NASAMS mastering timeline also affected time to Full Operational Capability, as military spent entire 18 months mastering NASAMS. Against this backdrop, one can only note Ukrainian military mastered NASAMS in several weeks. At same time, standard training course lasts 3-4 months.
Read more: russia "Sells" India 85 Il-114-300s: No Scheduled Flights, No Firm Contracts, and +25C Limit
