The Royal Danish Navy has selected Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile to equip its three Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates. (Michael Nitz)
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) has been awarded a contract worth NOK2.1 billion (USD193.3 million) for the supply of Naval Strike Missile (NSM) surface-to-surface missile system to Denmark.
The NSM is being procured from Norway to equip the Royal Danish Navy's (RDN's) Iver Huitfeldt-class frigates as replacements for the Boeing Harpoon anti-ship missiles that were previously donated to Ukraine.
The RDN operates three Iver Huitfeldt frigates, which entered service between 2012 and 2014.
The acquisition, announced on 6 March, has been fast-tracked under a government-to-government sales agreement between the Danish Ministry of Defence Acquisition and Logistics Organisation (DALO) and its Norwegian counterpart, the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (FMA).
In addition to the supply of missiles, the agreement includes ship-based equipment, training, and logistical support that will be provided by KDA. NSM deliveries to Denmark will start in 2025 and continue through to 2030.
This is the second Norwegian government-to-government sale of the NSM in Europe after the United Kingdom, which confirmed in November 2022 that it was expediting the procurement of the NSM from Norway via the same means to meet the requirements of the Royal Navy's (RN's) Maritime Offensive Surface Strike programme. The accelerated acquisition was necessary to ensure that an initial capability for the NSM was in place before the RN's Harpoon missiles retired from service at the end of 2023.
The NSM is a fifth-generation anti-ship missile developed by Kongsberg to provide the Royal Norwegian Navy (RNoN) with a long-range precision-strike capability against sea and land targets that can penetrate enemy air-defence systems.
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