Kongsberg press release
In 2022, the Commonwealth of Australia announced the selection of KONGSBERG’s NSM to replace the Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile capability under an accelerated acquisition under Project SEA1300. The NSM capability will be established and employed on the Royal Australian Navy’s ANZAC Class Frigates and HOBART Class Destroyers and will enter into service from 2024.
“This is a significant milestone in the pathway to delivering a modern, effective, and survivable precision strike missile capability to the Royal Australian Navy. Executing this contract will be achieved through close collaboration between Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Australian industry and the Commonwealth.”
Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace
Australia is a key customer and KONGSBERG is committed to developing sovereign domestic capabilities in support of its systems through knowledge transfer and Australian manufacturing opportunities. This contract will see significant Australian content for a program of this nature, delivered through Kongsberg Defence Australia and its growing network of Australian suppliers.
Developed in Norway, KONGSBERG’s NSM is a fifth-generation, highly capable, long-range, precision strike weapon designed to defeat heavily protected maritime targets in contested environments, with a secondary role for land attack. It is in service or has been selected by 11 countries, including the US, UK, Canada, Germany, and Norway.
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.
The Netherlands became the 11th and latest customer of the Naval Strike Missile in December 2022, joining the navies of Norway, Poland, Malaysia, Germany, United States (for both the US Navy and USMC), Romania, Canada, Australia, Spain and the UK.
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
