Kongsberg Nets Record Missile Contract

Norwegian defence giant Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace has won a deal to supply its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) to the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps with a potential total value north of £850 million.

The five-year agreement, the largest missile contract in the multinational's history, is worth a minimum of NOK 10 billion and includes options which could push the total value of the anti-ship and land attack missile deal to NOK 12 billion — or about £855 million.

The NSM was developed in-house at Kongsberg and was first deployed in 2012 by the Norwegian Navy, which uses the missile as the main weapon on its Navy’s frigates and littoral corvettes. As well as the U.S., it has since been supplied to a number of other NATO allies and friendly nations including the U.K., Canada, Australia, Germany, Poland, Latvia, Spain, Romania, The Netherlands, Belgium, Japan and Malaysia.

The U.S. Navy is acquiring the NSM as part of its Over-the-Horizon Weapons System (OTH-WS) Programme; it will deploy the missile on its Constellation-class Frigates and Littoral Combat Ships. The Marine Corps will use the missile as a mainstay of its NMESIS (Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) Programme.

The missile flies at just under the speed of sound (Mach 1) and has an approximate range of up to 150 miles. It can fly in sea-skimming mode and can manoeuvre over or around land masses.

Geir Håøy, President and CEO of Kongsberg, said: "This contract is the largest missile contract in Kongsberg’s history and an important milestone for us. We are pleased the United States has selected Kongsberg as an industry partner and look forward to continued cooperation to support U.S. defence capabilities and create value for important stakeholders in Norway and the U.S.”

“This contract is an example of the strong demand we see for our strike missiles across NATO and allied nations, which is why we this year have opened a new missile factory in Norway and announced two facilities in Australia and the U.S.,” added Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

An air-launched version of the NSM, the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is also currently in development by Kongsberg in partnership with RTX's Raytheon.

• You can read more details on the Kongsberg website