Norwegian NASAMS shines in Ukraine with 94% success rate
The Norwegians proudly claim that their NASAMS air defence system has successfully intercepted 900 objects in Ukraine, achieving a 94% success rate. This presents an excellent outcome and serves as a great advertisement for this highly adaptable system. Here's what it is capable of.
In an interview with the portal Aftenposten, Colonel Per Steinar Trøite of the Norwegian Air Force, who is head of Ukraine's support group responsible for, among other things, training, revealed that 900 objects have been downed by Ukrainians using NASAMS batteries.
The interception success rate has reached 94%, primarily against challenging targets, as 60% of the intercepted objects were cruise missiles from the Kh-101, Kh-555, Kalibr, Iskander-K, Kh-59, and Kh-69 families. These currently make up Russia's main attack methods, aside from the Shahed drones, which primarily serve to disguise cruise missiles.
NASAMS system — a visionary and open air defence system from Norway
The NASAMS air defence system, or Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System, was developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace in collaboration with the American company RTX (formerly Raytheon), entering service in Norway as early as 1998. Since then, the system has undergone improvements, with a second version introduced in 2007. The third variant is currently available.
The primary aim of the creators was to develop an anti-aircraft system with open architecture, capable of deploying air-to-air missiles used on aircraft, significantly simplifying logistics compared to systems with dedicated missiles. This resulted in a system that allows easy integration with numerous radars — currently, as many as 25 different designs have been approved — and missiles that simply need to be compatible with the Mil-Std 1760 aircraft rail.
In this regard, only the launcher and software require updates to work with new missiles. This approach has led to significant export success for the Norwegians, evident in its adoption by 16 users worldwide.
The current NASAMS configuration involves using AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles, including the extended-range ER variant, as well as the AIM-9 Sidewinder and IRIS-T missile family. Integration with MBDA Meteor missiles is likely to occur over time if there is user demand.
The performance of the NASAMS system is highly dependent on the missiles used, with an effective range varying from below 19 kilometres to above 31 kilometres. For instance, the range with AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles is 31 kilometres. This system can neutralise various targets, such as drones, helicopters, aircraft, and cruise missiles.
However, ballistic missiles pose a challenge, making NASAMS an excellent complement to Patriot systems equipped to neutralise these more severe and less common threats.
