Australia Orders Naval Strike Missiles from Kongsberg

Kongsberg has signed an initial contract valued at MNOK 489 ($48.5 million) with the Commonwealth of Australia for Naval Strike Missile (NSM) capability.

The order income is booked in second quarter 2022.

On 5 April 2022, the Federal Government announced the accelerated acquisition of the NSM to replace the Harpoon Anti-Ship Missile on the Royal Australian Navy’s ANZAC Class Frigates and HOBART Class Destroyers.

NSM can attain speeds of upto 0.9 Mach and has a range of about 100nm. This missile can be used to strike both sea and land targets. The airframe design and the high thrust to weight ratio give the NSM good manoeuvrability. The missile is completely passive, has proven its excellent sea-skimming capabilities and with its advanced terminal manoeuvres, it will survive the enemy air defences. The Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) of the seeker ensures that the correct target is detected, recognized and hit, at sea or on land.