Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KONGSBERG) today officially opened its new missile manufacturing plant in Kongsberg, Norway, where the company will produce its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and Joint Strike Missile (JSM).
The new missile factory was officially opened by Norwegian Minister of Trade and Industry Cecilie Myrseth at a ceremony together with State Secretary Anne Marie Aanerud of the Norwegian Ministry of Defence, and representatives from the NSM and JSM user nations. The plant lies inside the Arsenalet industrial park close to the company’s headquarters.
The opening of the new facility significantly increases KONGSBERG’s missile production capacity.
“The interest in NSM and JSM has grown over the past decade and is now the leading fifth-generation strike missile in 13 countries, including Norway, NATO countries and other close allies,” said Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.
“This building is the culmination of several expansions we have made over the last several years in response to the increase in demand for our naval strike missiles throughout our expanding customer base. This facility increases the annual output rate for NSM and JSM exponentially,” added Lie.
The process of constructing the new plant started in 2021, in response to a steady increase in orders for KONGSBERG’s strike missiles. Earlier this year, the company received funding from the Norwegian government and the EU’s ASAP programme to further expand production capacity.
“Our new missile production facility directly addresses the strong and long-term demand for our unique technology and the critical need to strengthen collective defence capabilities. When we decided to invest in a new missile production facility, we already saw significant demand from current and new customers. The present geopolitical situation has heightened the need for our defence capabilities and technology even further – both in Norway and internationally. As a leading technology company, we are uniquely positioned with our JSM and NSM portfolio to address security and defence challenges and provide our customers with the technology they need,” said Geir Håøy, CEO of KONGSBERG.
The new missile plant lies in the Arsenalet industrial park in Kongsberg, the company’s production and assembly site, which is being expanded to 90,000 sqm to host 1,200 skilled employees.
NSM & JSM
The NSM is an anti-ship missile with superior operational performance and high survivability against all enemy defence systems. The missile was developed by KONGSBERG and first deployed in 2012 by the Norwegian Navy.
NSM is the main weapon for the Norwegian Navy’s frigates and coastal corvettes, and has been selected by the US Navy, US Marine Corps, Poland, Romania, Canada, Germany, Australia, Malaysia, Spain, UK, The Netherlands, Belgium and Latvia. JSM has been selected by Norway, Japan and the US Air Force.