On Wednesday, October 22, 2025, the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) announced that, together with Australia’s Thales Australia, it had conducted in Norway the first live firing of a Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from an Australian StrikeMaster coastal defense system (NSM-CDS) launcher, mounted on a Bushmaster PMV 4×4 chassis.
Photos: KDA
The test demonstrated the suitability of the Utility variant of the Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicle 4×4, produced by Thales Australia, as a launch platform for two KDA Naval Strike Missiles (NSM). It confirmed that the StrikeMaster represents a low-risk solution meeting Australia’s long-range strike capability requirements. The test launcher carried the factory designation BTV (Blast Test Vehicle).
The BTV launcher configuration, featuring two launch canisters, is analogous to the unmanned ROGUE Fires (Remotely Operated Ground Unit for Expeditionary) launcher, developed under the U.S. Marine Corps’ NMESIS (Navy/Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) program, which employs the NSM under the designation RGM-184A.
As KDA emphasizes, StrikeMaster is not just a launcher, but an entire system, also including a fire control vehicle and an NSM transporter-loader vehicle, both based on the Bushmaster platform.
System StrikeMaster NSM-CDS będzie produkowany w Australii, w zakładach Kongsberg Defence Australia i Thales Australia w Adelajdzie i Bendigo, przy współpracy ponad 150 lokalnych dostawców i tworząc lub utrzymując 700 miejsc pracy w Australii. Z kolei pociski NSM (wraz z lotniczymi JSM do australijskich F-35A Lightning II) będą wkrótce produkowane w zakładach produkcyjno-serwisowych, budowanych w Williamtown w pobliżu Newcastle, a dostawy amunicji rozpoczną się w 2027 (Kongsberg zbuduje zakład produkcji NSM i JSM w Australii).
Kongsberg Defence Australia’s Managing Director, Mr John Fry said:
“This firing is a clear demonstration of StrikeMaster’s capability, providing assurance in the launcher’s reliability and performance, and confirming its suitability for Australia and other nations. Our collaboration with Thales Australia enables us to offer the proven and fielded NSM CDS capability in a mobile, protected, and locally built configuration that aligns with the force structure of Australia and other nations’”
Thales Australia’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jeff Connolly states:
“This successful live-fire proves the combination of the NSM and Bushmaster can provide a potent land based maritime-strike capability for Australia and our allies, and it will be made right here in Australia – supporting a sovereign industrial base.”
The Bushmaster-based StrikeMaster coastal defense system, developed by Thales Australia and Kongsberg, is competing for an Australian Army contract under LAND 8113 Phase 2. Its rival is the M142 HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System), already being procured in a batch of 90, armed with the LBASM (Land-Based Anti-Ship Missile), a shore-launched anti-ship ballistic missile derived from the PrSM (Precision Strike Missile). It is important to note, however, that although NSM and LBASM are intended for similar missions, they are fundamentally different classes of missiles.
In the Australian Army, specialized Bushmaster PMVs have also been used within air-defence batteries of the NASAMS system, which was likewise supplied by KDA.
The NSM was developed in the early 21st century and was initially delivered to the Norwegian Armed Forces between 2011 and 2015 as Nytt sjømålsmissil. NSM is currently in service with the armed forces of 15 countries (including 12 NATO and EU members). Besides those already mentioned, users include Belgium, Spain (selected on 9 September 2022), Canada, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Germany, Norway (additional missiles ordered on 22 December 2022), the Kingdom of the Netherlands (order on 12 December 2022), the U.S. (including the U.S. Navy on LCS ships), the United Kingdom, and potentially Ukraine.
The NSM-CDS coastal-defense system has recently been approved by Romania, Latvia, and Bulgaria. Germany will soon join (as part of armament for the MARS 3/EuroPuls multi-launcher systems), and Denmark, which has announced plans to purchase a coastal-defense system without specifying a missile type, may follow; Denmark has recently ordered NSM for its ships.
