US Navy fires Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile

Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM) has been fired from a US Navy Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) at the Point Mugu test range in California. Kongsberg has reported that test objectives were met, and the demonstration was successful.

The missile was launched from LCS USS Coronado as part of demonstrations for the US Navy. The missile followed the pre-planned trajectory towards a target ship at 100nm; locating and hitting the target at the preselected hit point.

The test provided the US Navy insights into the NSM’s capabilities of targeting, range and survivability. This is the first time a ship of this class has launched a long-range anti-ship strike missile, and the first time a US Navy vessel has fired the NSM.

Pål Bratlie, executive vice president, Kongsberg Defence Systems, said: ‘We are very pleased that the US Navy evaluates the NSM missile. This contract does not however include any commitment for the US Navy beyond the test. The missile is in series production for Norway and Poland, and this test has enabled the US Navy to study it closer in a realistic scenario.’

Kongsberg’s NSM is a new generation long-range precision strike missile, guided with an inertial navigation system aided by a military GPS receiver and laser altimeter. The NSM with its stealthy design and passive infra-red and imaging sensor makes it very hard to detect, increasing the accuracy avoiding collateral damage. The NSM is multi mission (sea- and land targets) with a long stand-off range of more than 100nm.