At the Surface Navy Association's (SNA) 2018 National Symposium held in January near Washington DC, Navy Recognition learned from Raytheon and Kongsberg that the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) will be test fired from a U.S. Army HEMTT truck during RIMPAC 2018 exercise this summer.
Kongsberg CGI showing an NSM being launched from a US Army HEMTT vehicule.
The U.S. Army will demonstrate the "cross domain fires / cross domain integration" concept by firing an NSM against a ship target at sea during the joint exercise taking place in (and off) the island of Hawaii. A contract was awarded to Raytheon for this.
The first mention of this live test came from the Chief of U.S Pacific Command, Amiral Harris, talking at the Association of the United States Army LANPAC Symposium and Exposition last year in May.
"Significant to this audience, during RIMPAC 2018, USARPAC will fire a Naval Strike Missile from the shore to sink a ship." Admiral Harris said at the Army symposium last year.
Talking to Navy Recognition at SNA 2018, Tom Copeman, Vice President, Business Development, Air Warfare Systems at Raytheon Missile Systems, said "The missile, no matter where you shoot it from, can hit moving targets at sea or can hit a target stationary ashore so it is designed from the get go to be a cross domain capable weapon".
Gary Holst, Senior Director, Business Development at Kongsberg said "We think that the emphasis on cross domain and bringing all shooters together in a distributed fashion to mass on a target or targets provides a wonderful opportunity, we are just really excited about it!".
Our video interview with Raytheon and Kongsberg at SNA 2018
About NSM
The NSM Coastal Defence System is designed for high precision strike missions against high threat targets or highly defended targets at sea or on land up to 200 km and above.
NSM defence system is already fielded by the Polish Navy coastal defence squadron based in (Northern Poland near Gdansk). Polish Navy personnel explained to Navy Recognition the typical organization of a coastal battery at MSPO 2014. Follow this link to learn more.
The NSM is a fifth generation anti-sip missile, developed by KONGSBERG for the Norwegian Navy. NSM reached Initial Operational Capability on the new Norwegian Fridtjof Nansen Class frigates and the new Norwegian Skjold Class corvettes in 2012. It is also fielded by the Polish Navy (coastal defense batteries) and has been selected by the navies of Malaysia and Germany. NSM was also tested by the US Navy on LCS (Littoral Combat Ship) #4 USS Coronado in 2014.
Raytheon Company and Norway's Kongsberg Defence Systems entered in teaming agreement in 2016 and Raytheon received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility in Tucson, Arizona in August 2016.
Hans Kongelf, Vice President of Missile Systems at Kongsberg previously told Navy Recognition that the main strength of the NSM are:
- Defense penetration capabilities thanks to its stealth, extremely low sea-skimming flight profile and high G maneuvers.
- Target recognition: Each NSM is fitted with a library of ship profiles to recognize each ship classes.
- NSM is available today, it is in production, fielded by the Royal Norwegian Navy, the Polish Navy and selected by the Royal Malaysian Navy and German Navy
Kongsberg poster on display at AUSA 2017
About HEMTT
The Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) is an eight-wheel drive, diesel-powered, 10-short-ton (9,100 kg), tactical truck used by the US military and others. In evolving configurations it has been in continuous production since 1982.
The HEMTT A4 series designed, developed and manufactured by the American Company Oshkosh Defense is latest version of the HEMTT truck familiy. Built to stand up to the evolving challenges in the field, the HEMTT A4 hits the battlefield with significant improvements and advancements in power, maintenance, and soldier safety. Oshkosh Defense has been building some of the toughest, most reliable, most technically-advanced trucks in the world. The same high-quality proven standards of performance and reliability are found in the HEMTT A4. Built with maximum common parts across its variants, the HEMTT A4 soon will take its place as the Army's best performing workhorse.
