The Norwegian Ministry of Defence today announced a new collaborative arrangement between Norway, Raytheon, an RTX business, and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace on the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS. The agreement, which was signed at the Norwegian ambassador’s residence in Washington DC in October, will lay the foundation to further enhance NASAMS’ already robust and combat-proven air defence capabilities.
“We need to strengthen and further expand air defence to better protect civilian and military targets against airborne threats. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated how crucial air defence is in war. The cooperation arrangement with Norway’s KONGSBERG and Raytheon of the US lays the foundation for further developing the battle-tested NASAMS air defence system against future threats, said Bjørn Arild Gram, Norway’s Minister of Defence.
NASAMS, a highly adaptable medium-range air defence solution, is jointly developed and produced by Raytheon and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Drawing on decades of experience, industrial cooperation, and significant investment made by all three parties, this new collaborative arrangement will grow the capabilities of NASAMS to ensure it keeps pace with ever-evolving complex threats.
“We look forward to continuing the successful three-way collaboration between KONGSBERG, Raytheon and the Norwegian MoD to further improve NASAMS with the mobility and operational flexibility required to protect people and critical assets in the future,” said Kjetil Reiten Myhra, Executive Vice President of Integrated Defence Systems at Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
“Today marks a key milestone in cementing NASAMS’ legacy as the world’s leading medium-range air defence system,” said Tom Laliberty, president of Land & Air Defence Systems at Raytheon. “We will continue to invest in the evolution of NASAMS to support the Norwegian Armed Forces and our allies around the globe.”
Future acquisitions of NASAMS
The Norwegian government plans to submit two air defence projects to the Storting for parliamentary approval in the forthcoming state budget 2023 revisions under the Ministry of Defence this autumn. These are Project 7821, which will acquire missiles for NASAMS air defence, and Project 1146, which will re-acquire donated main components for NASAMS. In addition, a proposal to change the scope of Project 7628 Combat Air Defence will be presented, due to previous donations.
