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Australian-owned Black Sky Aerospace tested its vehicle-mounted, ultra-mobile artillery rocket from the back of a civilian ute this week, as part of the company’s program to develop a guided weapons and explosive ordnance solution.
The mobile artillery rocket was developed as part of an accelerated program to create a missile system that can be mounted on civilian vehicles, aimed at keeping Australia safe in the event of extreme circumstances like the invasion of Ukraine.
According to chief executive officer of Black Sky Aerospace Blake Nikolic, the BSA team was inspired by the events in Ukraine to enhance Australia’s warfighting capability.
“When we saw what was going on in Ukraine, the team thought that was the chance to develop something groundbreaking that might be able to help,” Nikolic said.
“We still have more work to do but I’m so proud of how far the team has come in solving problems to get us to the point where we are firing prototypes off a ute.
“Working with our Queensland-based partners, we have tested the guidance system and gathered much-needed data to take the project to the next level.”
James Baker, BSA general manager of defence and national security, explained that the company expects to make further leaps in the development of the locally designed and built weapons systems.
“Future variants on larger vehicles will be capable of greater distance and payloads but staying offensive-weapons-free has allowed us to make much faster progress than would otherwise be possible,” he explained.
Earlier in the year, the company tested Australia’s largest ever locally built solid rocket boosters and trialled an “Australian-first training missile”.
“This has been a year of quantum leaps in Australia’s rocket propulsion technologies and local guided weapons development,” Nikolic said.
[Related: Black Sky unveils sovereign practice missile]
