The missile developed by Kongsberg of Norway is quickly becoming the anti-ship missile of choice for NATO navies: The Royal Netherlands Navy follows the Royal Navy who announced the selection of NSM less than three weeks ago. Naval News announced that the Spanish Navy selected the Naval Strike Missile back in September.
The Netherlands thus becomes the 11th customer of the Naval Strike Missile, joining the navies of Norway, Poland, Malaysia, Germany, United States (for both the US Navy and USMC), Romania, Canada, Australia, Spain and the UK.
Naval News understands that three missiles were in competition: Kongsberg’s NSM, IAI’s Gabriel V and Saab’s RBS 15 Mk3+.
“The air defense and command frigates (LC frigates) will receive new anti-ship missiles. A replacement for the current Harpoon anti-ship missile has been found in the Naval Strike Missile (NSM). Defense today signed an agreement with the Norwegian supplier Kongsberg, which is expected to deliver the new missiles from 2025”.
Dutch MoD statement
Naval News understands that the Naval Strike Missiles will initially fitted on the four in-service De Zeven Provinciën-class air defense and command frigates (LCF). There is an option for the future anti-submarine warfare frigates (ASWF). There is also an option for the two ASWF frigates of the Belgian Navy which are supposed to come in a similar configuration to the Dutch vessels.
The Dutch MoD added: “The NSM missile system has several advantages over the Harpoon. The range is much longer and the missile uses an advanced infrared search head. This makes it easier to recognize the target, the missile is more precise and the chance of accidental damage is reduced. Furthermore, the missile is difficult to detect by enemy ships due to the use of stealth properties.”
“KONGSBERG is very proud to have been selected by the Netherlands Ministry of Defence to provide the NSM to the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) Air Defence & Command Frigates. This is another great achievement for the NSM program and we are very pleased to welcome the RNLN as a member of the NSM User Group” said Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
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 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, Germany, Canada, Romania and Ausralia. 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.
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
