Article Posted on : - Oct 08, 2013

Nulka active missile decoy system

MELBOURNE (BNS): The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO), Australia, has signed a $35 million dollar contract with BAE Systems at the ongoing International Fleet Review held to mark 100 years of Royal Australian Navy.

Minister for Defence, Senator David Johnston on Monday said the contract was signed to produce additional rounds for the Nulka active missile decoy system.

Nulka is a hovering rocket designed to seduce anti-ship missiles away from their targets.

According to Senator Johnston the multi-million dollar contract will produce additional Nulka rounds that will be delivered to both the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and the United States Navy (USN).

"Nulka is an exceptionally valuable capability for the RAN and has made a huge difference to enhancing ship defence, providing an effective counter measure against radar guided missiles," he said.

"It remains Australia's largest regular Defence export valued at $700 million dollars and is installed on over 150 Australian, United States and Canadian warships.

"Under this arrangement, the DMO is the contracting lead for the acquisition of Nulka decoys on behalf of the RAN and USN, he added.

The original Nulka development was performed under a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between the United States and Australian governments in 1986 and is the first joint project in the electronic warfare domain between the two countries.

"Development is ongoing, with several projects currently planned to sustain the Nulka system as a premier Anti-Ship Missile defence solution for the RAN and the USN," he said.