Norway, Aust team up on F-35 missile

Australia and Norway will jointly finance an improvement to a Norwegian joint strike missile to enable it to better obliterate enemy ships up to 300 kilometres away.

Both nations plan to equip new F-35 Lightning aircraft with the advanced weapon, the only anti-ship missile of its type able to fit into the F-35's internal weapons bay.

The JSM now tracks enemy vessels on the basis of their infra-red (heat) signature and the proposed enhancement will enable it to detect and track radio emissions such as radar systems.