Posted on 10/13/2014 8:41:24 PM PDT by sukhoi-30mki
Kongsberg Gruppen ASA says its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and a sister missile developed to go into the bomb bay of the F-35 fighter jet could generate billions of dollars of new revenues for the Norwegian company in coming years.
Walter Qvam, president and chief executive of Kongsberg, told Reuters that Russian aggression in Ukraine was seen as a "serious new situation" in Europe, and was already starting to drive European defense spending higher. Kongsberg was seeing higher demand for its air-defense system, he said.
Kongsberg, which is celebrating its 200th anniversary this year, is trying to pump up its defense sales in the United States, which accounts for about 35 percent of its annual revenues, as it looks to offset sales in the oil and gas sector.
Qvam, who spoke to Reuters during the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference in Washington, said Kongsberg could see billions of dollars in revenues from the NSM missile, a long-range precision strike missile, in coming years.
He said the Navy viewed the NSM as a capability that could strengthen the LCS class of coastal warships.
The Navy test-fired a NSM from the USS Coronado, one of its Littoral Combat Ships, last month, striking its target directly.
Qvam said he was also upbeat about the future of the Joint Strike Missile, or JSM, which is based on the same technology as NSM. The new missile is planned as part of the Block 4 upgrade of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, built by Lockheed Martin Corp , although it will be optional for buying countries.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
I want one.
Help me out: what is the advantage of this over a Harpoon?
Fine, but I get to designate the target.
The warhead is twice as large and the range is almost twice as long. There may be other advantages. But both missiles are surprisingly slow - high subsonic, whereas modern anti-ship cruise missiles with ramjets are high supersonic to hypersonic.
Actually, the Harpoon’s warhead is nearly twice as large as that of the NSM (220 kg vs 125 kg).
The NSM/JSM’s main advantage is its smaller size, which allows it to be carried internally in the JSF. Being a far ‘newer’ weapon, its also much more stealthy.
We will put one i
n your stocking at Christmas.
We will put one in your stocking at Christmas.
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