Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (Kongsberg) is contracted by the US Navy to test fire Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from the Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) under the Foreign Comparative Testing program.
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 is planned to be conducted during September this year from the USS Coronado, an Independence-class LCS.
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.
“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,” says Harald Ånnestad, President Kongsberg Defence Systems.