US Navy requests Kongsberg NSM firing from LCS

Kongsberg will test fire its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from the US Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) under the Foreign Comparative Testing programme. Kongsberg announced the firing, which will take place in September, on 17 September.

The firing was requested by the US Navy to demonstrate the capability to engage a surface target at a range of 100 nautical miles from an LCS class ship. The test will take place from the USS Coronado, an Independence-class LCS.

Harald Ånnestad, president, Kongsberg Defence Systems, said: ‘We are very pleased that the US Navy has decided to evaluate the NSM missile. This contract does not however include any commitment for the US Navy beyond the test, but confirms NSM`s unique capabilities and the test will enable the US Navy to study it closer in a realistic scenario.’

This demonstration follows a successful NSM live fire event from the Royal Norwegian Navy´s Fridtjof Nansen-class frigate witnessed by the US Navy during the recently completed Rim of the Pacific 2014.