The Navy just picked its new anti-ship missile

Harold C. Hutchison
Sep 12, 2019 2:52 AM PDT
1 minute read
Technology photo

SUMMARY

The United States Navy has made it official: The Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (often called NSM) is its new choice fo…

The United States Navy has made it official: The Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (often called NSM) is its new choice for taking out enemy ships at distance. The decision, announced last week, means that both the Littoral Combat Ship and the Navy's new frigate will pack a powerful, anti-ship punch.

This isn't the first time Kongsberg has won a deal from the United States Navy. In 1986, the Navy turned to that company's Penguin anti-ship missile to arm its SH-60/MH-60 Seahawk helicopters. That same missile is also used on Norwegian missile boats, coastal batteries, and F-16 Fighting Falcons.


The AGM-119 Penguin missile, which gave SH-60 and MH-60 helicopters a potent anti-ship punch, was built by Kongsberg and used by the U.S. Navy.

(U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Lisa Aman)

For some time now, there was a competition underway between the NSM, an extended-range Harpoon, and a surface-launched version of the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile — the makers of which were vying for a contract with the Navy. All three had some good selling points: The NSM is a smaller, compact missile that fits better on smaller ships, while the extended-range Harpoon is a natural evolution from the RGM-84s currently launched by most surface ships. The LRASM has the longest range (over 500 miles) and packs the biggest punch (a 1,000-pound warhead). In the end, however, it seems the NSM has won out.

The NSM uses infrared guidance to home in on its target, has a range of over 100 nautical miles, and packs a 265-pound warhead. The system can not only be fired from surface ships. With a total weight of 770 pounds, it's light enough to be carried by the Navy's MH-60R Seahawk helicopters.

This model of a MH-60 Seahawk at the SeaAirSpace 2017 expo shows it carrying Kongsberg NSMs.

(Photo by Harold C. Hutchison)

The current contract for the NSM is valued at just under .5 million, but that could increase to just under 0 million as littoral combat ships and future frigates are also armed with this missile.

Check out the video below to see a test firing of this new missile.

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