Why a guided missile launcher fitted UTE is being tested in the Australian outback

A high-tech guided missile launcher attached to a ute is being tested in the Australian outback.

The rockets were launched from a field along the NSW-QLD border on Thursday by  Queensland company Black Sky Aerospace (BSA), but the prototypes are not fitted with active warheads.

Inspired by the sudden onset of war in Ukraine and rising tensions close to Australia's border, BSA decided to create a defence system that could be fitted to a ute.

'I saw what was happening in Ukraine, and I asked the team "how long would it take to fire a missile from the back of a ute?",' James Baker, the General Manager of Defence and National Security at BSA, told Daily Mail Australia.

The prototype is four months into development and recent calculations from BSA estimate it could launch a rocket up 15 kilometres. 

The prototype is four months into development, with recent calculations from BSA estimating the prototype could launch a rocket up 15 kilometres.

It still has a fair way to go before being finished, as BSA are juggling numerous other projects, including a missile guidance system, propellants and even attempting to 're-enter Australia into the space race'.

'We're still yet to attach a warhead onto the rockets,' Mr Baker said.

'We could make our own, but that would take more time. It would be a lot faster to partner with another company who already produce them.'

BSA hopes that upon completion, the device coud be utilised by the Australian Defence Force to defend the nation from the increasing chance of conflict.

'The Australian Government faces one of the most serious strategic circumstances since WW2. We heard that, we listened, and we acted,' Mr Baker said.

BSA plan to conduct larger-scale tests on the device in the first half of 2023.