Login
iscover
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace today officially opened its new missile manufacturing plant in Kongsberg, Norway, where the company will produce its Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth, alongside State Secretary Anne Marie Aanerud of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence and representatives from the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Joint Strike Missile (JSM) user nations, officially opened the factory inside the Arsenalet industrial park close to the company’s headquarters.
The process to construct the new plant started in 2021, in response to a steady increase in orders for Kongsberg’s strike missiles from a range of nations, including Australia. The company was further supported earlier this year when the company received funding from the Norwegian government and the EU’s Act in Support of Ammunition Production (ASAP) program to further expand production capacity.
Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, said, “The interest in NSM and JSM has grown over the past decade and is now the leading fifth-generation strike missile in 13 countries, including Norway, NATO countries and other close allies.”
The new missile plant is part of the company’s production and assembly site, which is being expanded to 90,000 square metres to host 1,200 skilled employees.
Lie added, “This building is the culmination of a number of expansions we have made over the last several years in response to the increase in demand for our naval strike missiles throughout our expanding customer base. This facility increases the annual output rate for NSM and JSM exponentially.”
These comments were expanded upon by the CEO of Kongsberg, Geir Håøy, who celebrated the opening of the missile production facility, saying, “Our new missile production facility directly addresses the strong and long-term demand for our unique technology and the critical need to strengthen collective defence capabilities.
“When we decided to invest in a new missile production facility, we already saw significant demand from current and new customers. The present geopolitical situation has heightened the need for our defence capabilities and technology even further – both in Norway and internationally. As a leading technology company, we are uniquely positioned with our JSM and NSM portfolio to address security and defence challenges and provide our customers with the technology they need,” Håøy said.
The Naval Strike Missile is described as a fifth-generation, anti-ship missile with superior operational performance and high survivability compared to legacy systems and against all enemy defence systems. The missile was developed by Kongsberg and first deployed in 2012 by the Norwegian Navy.
Naval Strike Missile is the main weapon for the Norwegian Navy’s frigates and coastal corvettes and has been selected by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Poland, Romania, Canada, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium, and Latvia.
Meanwhile, the Joint Strike Missile has been selected by Norway, Japan, and the US Air Force.
