Raytheon has received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility in the United States.
Norwegian Kongsberg Defence Systems and the American Raytheon earlier announced their plans to bring the naval missile production from Norway over to Raytheon’s Louisville, Kentucky facility where the company also plans to perform final assembly, integration and test of the NSM.
“Building NSM launchers at our Louisville facility is an excellent extension of our long-standing relationship with Kongsberg,” said Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence , Raytheon Missile Systems president. “This contract will enable us to add jobs while providing our Norwegian teammates with world-class launchers.”
The U.S. Navy plans to equip its littoral combat ships with the over-the-horizon missile to increase the ships’ strike capability.
“This contract is an important next step in our long-term partnership with Raytheon, and the historic first production contract for NSM in the US,” said Harald Ånnestad , Kongsberg Defence Systems president.
The two companies are also teamed on the development of the Joint Strike Missile and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems also known as NASAMS.