“The government is prioritising strengthening our air defence. This agreement is an important step in ensuring increased response capacity and protection of Norwegian forces and critical infrastructure,” said Minister of Defence Tore O. Sandvik.
“The NASAMS air defence system is strategically important for Norway’s defence capabilities and is vital for safeguarding our national security interests. This delivery will provide Norway with the latest generation of NASAMS, developed to meet current and future threats,” said Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
The National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS, was first developed by KONGSBERG and Raytheon of the US for the Norwegian armed forces in the 1990s. Today there are 13 nations in the NASAMS user group.
“With this acquisition, we ensure that the NASAMS departments receive flexible and modern command posts and communication systems that provide faster decision support, higher tempo and increased survivability,” said Director Gro Jære of the Defence Materiel Agency.
Contract deliveries
With the new contract, the NASAMS batteries will be equipped with new command posts, wheeled communication nodes and radios. Today's MRR radios will be replaced with KONGSBERG’s THOR Combat Net Radio, with higher capacity and more functions.
Increased mobility, better opportunity for dispersion and command posts that allow faster movement are all factors that contribute to increased survivability for the air defence batteries.
In addition, the NDMA ordered additional components with long lead times to ensure that additional NASAMS systems can be delivered quickly, in line with the Long-Term Plan for the Defence Sector.
