Norway To Develop Joint Strike Missile

The Norwegian Government has today submitted to Parliament a revised National Budget in which it confirms that it will present a proposal for development of the Joint Strike Missile before the summer. 

This further development of Kongsberg’s JSM will implement Stage III in the development of the JSM missile for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF). 

Kongsberg Gruppen (Kongsberg) has previously signed contracts with the Norwegian Defence Logistics Organisation (FLO) in Step I and Step II, and later a bridge-phase contract to Stage III on 29 November 2013. 

JSM is a new missile and fills an unmet operational need of the F-35. The missile can also be integrated on other platforms and it is already implemented so-called "fit-check" on the F-18. 

Kongsberg see great potential for the delivery of JSM to fighters worldwide. 

“It is very gratifying that the Government indicates that development of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) will continue, and we look forward to the forthcoming proposal from the Defense Ministry,” said Walter Qvam, CEO of Kongsberg Gruppen. 

In future full-scale production, the JSM program could employ over 450 employees at Kongsberg and also provide significant work for over 100 Norwegian subcontractors for decades.