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Joint Strike Missile: This is the missile that the military along with the Kongsberg Group is developing for the new Norwegian fighter planes. Missile program is a continuation of anti-ship missile Naval Strike Missile, if over 13 years has been under development for the new frigates.
- Here is the new missile adventure
The government allocated over one billion today. - It can go terribly good or terribly bad.
Kristoffer Egeberg
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Missile Companion: Secretary of State Roger Ingebrigtsen (left) and President of Kongsberg Defence Systems Harald Ånnestad. Photo: Kristoffer Egeberg / Dagbladet
(Dagbladet.no) The Government has today decided to spend 1.029 millions NOK on developing a Norwegian missile they hope will give billions to the Norwegian defense industry.
- We need a missile that does not exist in the world today, and we want to get other countries to see that they need it, "said Secretary of State Roger Ingebrigtsen at the Defense Ministry at a conference at Soria Moria in Oslo today.
Major funding is step two in the development of the so-called Joint Strike Missile (JSM), which has been in planning stage for some years.
- A new adventure
Executive Vice President Harald Ånnestad at Kongsberg Defence Systems think this could mark the start of a Norwegian arms adventure.
- We are very pleased with this. This ensures the missile in Kongsberg, and over 100 subcontractors. We are betting that this is the beginning of a new adventure. Since we started with Penguin missiles in the 60s we have sold these for over 10 billion. JSM can bring in between 20 and 30 billion by 2040, predicts the Kongsberg boss to Dagbladet.
Secretary Ingebrigtsen is more hesitant and stresses that the adventure is still not guaranteed.
- This can either be usable and terribly good or terribly bad. Terribly poor would be to stand there for a year and a half years with no other customers. Then it stops and we have wasted 1.5 billion. But we choose to look at this as a huge window of opportunity for the defense industry, "he told Dagbladet, and think it at best help to make the cost of procurement of new combat aircraft.
Australia has so far been involved in the development of JSM. No other country has committed itself to now, but both Canada, USA and Italy have expressed interest.
- Export
The Government will now work on getting more of the fighter project partner interested in the missile so that step three of the developments - the completion - can start from 2013 and provide a ready missile for the aircraft when these will be delivered from 2016.
JSM developed specifically for the new F-35, which should be able to carry two missiles hidden in the abdomen, and four on the wings. Norway hopes to gain more partner countries in the fighter project with the development, SOG sees the potential that the missile could be one of the foremost future exports of Norwegian arms industry.
The missile is a continuation of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) - a naval strike missile manufactured by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. NSM was started as a project for the Navy to become a medium-range-missile cruiser for maritime targets. The missile is supposed to be the main weapon of the new frigates, and on missile torpedo boats of the Skjold-class.
Although the missile has been under development and testing for over 13 years, there will be no combat ready until at least next year. The project has cost over two billion.
