Norway doubles down on missile innovation for Nasams boost
Norwegians are highly satisfied with the effectiveness of the NASAMS system in Ukraine, but the primary constraint is missile availability. They plan to consider unconventional rockets. Here's an explanation of the NASAMS system and what Norway plans to do.
As mentioned in an interview with the portal Euractiv, Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, stated that his company is working on integrating missiles based on Ukrainian technology with the NASAMS system.
Kongsberg is currently in the process of establishing a branch in Ukraine, and discussions are ongoing regarding the creation of a joint-venture company in the coming months, which would aim to produce hundreds of missiles. This likely involves some variations of Ukrainian air-to-air missiles: Vympel R-73, R-27, or R-77.
These missiles were developed, produced, or serviced to varying extents by the Artem plant in Kyiv. It's unsurprising that in an era of fighter jet shortages, Ukrainians have begun using R-73 missiles on sea drones or on Osa anti-aircraft systems.
Meanwhile, the integration of modified missiles with the highly effective NASAMS systems would significantly reduce Ukraine's reliance, among others, on the USA in the long term.
A unique perspective on Norwegian anti-air defence
The NASAMS air defence system, an acronym for Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, was developed through a collaboration between Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and American RTX, formerly Raytheon. It debuted in the Norwegian armed forces in 1998 and has undergone many upgrades since then, with its second version introduced in 2007. This was not the last, as currently produced units are the third generation.
The creators aimed to develop an anti-aircraft system with open architecture, capable of using air-to-air missiles formerly used in aviation. This approach was intended to simplify logistics compared to systems requiring dedicated missiles.
The result is a system that can be integrated with numerous radars – currently 25 different types – and missiles that must comply with the Mil-Std 1760 aviation standard. This allows air defence units to use aviation arsenals and vice versa.
The openness of the NASAMS system
Modernisation of launchers and software updates allow compatibility with new models of missiles, significantly boosting the export success of the system, which is currently used by 16 countries worldwide.
The current configuration of NASAMS includes the use of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, including the ER extended range version, as well as AIM-9 Sidewinder and IRIS-T missiles. It might be possible to integrate Ukrainian missiles if they gain compatibility with the Mil-Std 1760 rail through, for example, a missile reconstruction process, which is not unprecedented.
These missiles would also fit within the range realities of the NASAMS system, as the range of Ukrainian missiles would likely fall between over 10 kilometres to perhaps around 30 kilometres. Their targets would be objects such as drones, helicopters, aircraft, or cruise missiles.
