Norwegian F-35As to carry Joint Strike Missile
Joint Strike Missile. (Photo: Kongsberg)
Kongsberg confirms order to arm Norwegian F-35s with the multirole variant of the Naval Strike Missile.
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace announced on 21 October that it will arm the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF) fleet of F-35A Lightning II fighter aircraft with the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), under a NOK3.95 billion ($473 million) contract.
The JSM is currently being adapted by Japan and Norway and can be stored internally by F-35As for anti-ship and land-attack missions.
The RNoAF Norwegian Air Force operates 22 F-35As with another 30 on order.
Kongsberg noted that its partnership with the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norwegian Defence Research Establishment in defining, developing and testing JSM ‘has been [a] critical factor in developing a missile with such advanced capabilities’.
Shephard Defence Insight notes that the JSM is a multirole version of the Kongsberg/Raytheon Naval Strike Missile. It has a 230kg HE blast-fragmentation warhead with a range of between 185-555km, depending on profile.
In July 2021, BAE Systems obtained a contract to support JSM with stealth technologies such as radar-absorbing material.
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