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HELSINKI — The Norwegian government is working on an initiative to support the sale of Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace’s (KDA) Joint Strike Missile (JSM), with the F-35 as an immediate target.
The initiative will include political representations, close cooperation with the JSM consortium and financial supports to ensure the JSM project has adequate funding to meet its technology and marketing needs.
The JSM consortium is an industrial group of some of Norway’s biggest defense companies. Apart from KDA, the consortium includes Propartner Defense (electronics); Berget A/S (mechanics and engineering); Kitron (military avionics/ weapons control systems); Eidel (early warning systems); and Natech (electro-optics).
The Ministry of Defense is expected to present a report based on the new initiative in June, before the Norwegian parliament’s summer break.
The lofty scale of Norway’s ambition was manifest when Defense Minister Espen Barth Eide met with U.S. government and Lockheed officials in Washington in January. Barth Eide outlined a state-backed program to sell the JSM not only to the U.S., but to all partner nations, such as Britain, the Netherlands, Denmark and Australia.
Barth Eide secured assurances of cooperation with the U.S. government to install the JSM on F-35s. However, the U.S. has stopped short of committing to purchase the Norwegian missile system.
The JSM is based on the current Naval Strike Missile, which can be used as both an air-to-surface and anti-ship long-range missile. The total estimated stage-two development costs for the JSM are about $200 million. The Norwegian state has provided $100 million in contract funding to the JSM-project.
