Malaysia Considering Turkish, U.S. Anti-ship Missiles After Norway Cancels NSM Deal

Malaysia is considering anti-ship missiles made by Turkey and the U.S. after Norway rescinded on a deal to supply the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) made by Kongsberg.

The NSM contract was announced in 2015 and over the year Kuala Lumpur paid some 90% of the contract value of $145 million before Oslo canceled the deal.

Norway’s changed defense export policy responsible for deal cancellation

The Oslo government decided that the country's most sensitive defense technologies would now only be exported to NATO members and close partner countries, and that NSM systems export to Malaysia fell outside this scope.

Malaysian Defence Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin announced that Norwegian Defence Minister Tore Sandvik had formally apologized to Malaysia for the cancellation of the NSM anti-ship missile export.

Nordin, who met with his Norwegian counterpart as part of the Shangri-La Dialogue held in Singapore last week, stated that the reasons for the cancellation of the NSM (Naval Strike Missile) export license were discussed during the meeting.

Nordin stated that approximately 95 percent of the contract price under the NSM procurement program has been paid, and they are awaiting the return of payments made by Norway. Nordin stated that the Norwegian side would forward the request to the government, but expressed doubts about whether a positive outcome would be achieved regarding the refund.

Raytheon’s NSM or Turkish ATMACA?

The Malaysian Defence Minister announced that he also met with US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth as part of the Shangri-La Dialogue and requested Washington's support in supplying the NSM made by Raytheon which is an analogue of the NSM from Norway.

Another option is the ATMACA Anti-Ship Missile developed by the Turkish defense company, STM. A memorandum of understanding on cooperation in this field was recently signed between the concerned parties.