Kongsberg press release
The collaboration will result in more ships equipped with the highly sophisticated Naval Strike Missiles which in turn will contribute in enhancing the security in our common areas of interest. Replacing the Harpoon surface-to-surface weapon, due to go out of service in 2023, the world-class anti-ship missile will be ready for operations onboard the first Royal Navy vessel in a little over 12 months.
“KONGSBERG is very pleased to welcome the Royal Navy as a member of the NSM User Group. We proudly support the strengthening of defence ties between our nations by integrating the NSM on the Royal Navy’s vessels,” says Executive Vice President in Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Øyvind Kolset.
KONGSBERG cannot provide any further comment on the potential size of this contract.
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About Naval Strike Missile (NSM)
The Naval Strike Missile is a long-range, precision strike weapon that seeks and destroys enemy ships at distances greater than 100 nautical miles. It uses Inertial, GPS and terrain-reference navigation and imaging infrared homing (with a target database aboard the missile).
The NSM is a very flexible system, which can be launched from a variety of platforms against a variety of targets on sea and land.
The airframe design and the high thrust-to-weight ratio give the NSM extremely good maneuverability. The missile is completely passive and has proven its excellent sea-skimming capabilities and with its advanced terminal maneuvers, it will survive the enemy air defenses. The Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) of the seeker ensures that the correct target is detected, recognized, and hit, at sea or on land.
The NSM is a fifth-generation anti-ship missile, produced by Kongsberg and managed in the U.S. by Raytheon. NSM reached Initial Operational Capability on the new Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates and the Norwegian Skjold Class corvettes in 2012. It is also fielded by the Polish Navy (coastal defense batteries) and has been selected by the navies of Malaysia and Germany. NSM was also selected in 2018 as the winner of the U.S. Navy Over-The-Horizon Weapon System (OTH WS) competition and by the USMC in 2019. Its U.S. Navy designation is RGM-184A NSM Block 1. The latest customer before the UK was Spain.
TECHNICAL DATA
- Speed: 0.7 – 0.9 Mach
- Weight: 407 kg (897 lbs)
- Length: 3,96 m (156 inches)
- Multi-mission: Sea and land targets
- Range: >100 nm
- Responsive: Rapid automated mission planning – short reaction time
The firepower of Royal Navy warships will be bolstered with new ship-busting missiles.
Eleven Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers will be fitted with the sea-skimming Naval Strike Missile, capable of knocking out major enemy warships at ranges of more than 100 miles away.
The MOD today ordered the missile system as the interim replacement for the existing Harpoon, which reaches the end of its active life next year.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace announced the investment in the new weapon on a visit to Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth in the Norwegian capital Oslo.
Harpoon has been in service for several decades and, despite frequent upgrades and enhancements to keep pace with developments in technology, can no longer meet the demands of mid-21st Century naval warfare.
The Naval Strike Missile will plug the gap between Harpoon and the advent of its permanent successor, the ‘future offensive surface weapon’, which will become the Fleet’s premier long-range, heavy duty anti-ship missile in 2028, carried by the Royal Navy’s next-generation Type 26 frigates, currently under construction on the Clyde.
The Naval Strike Missile is already in service with three navies – the Norwegian, US and Polish – and lined up to be fitted to the warships of half a dozen more.
Travelling at speeds close to Mach 1, the 400kg missile can strike at targets more than 100 miles away, evading detection by skimming over the sea’s surface and eluding enemy defences via evasive manoeuvres.
UK defence firms Babcock and BAE Systems will install NSM on the 11 warships, with the first ship due to be operational by the end of next year.
