Article Posted on : - Sep 26, 2012

The Penguin anti-ship cruise missile. A Kongsberg photo

KONGSBERG (BNS): Leading Norwegian defence firm Kongsberg has secured a contract from the Brazilian Navy to supply Penguin anti-ship cruise missiles and associated equipment.

The contract is valued at worth EUR 33 million (USD 42 million), the company announced on September 13.

The missiles will be deployed on the Brazilian Navy's new maritime helicopters.

Penguin was the first anti-ship cruise missile developed in the western world. It has been continuously updated and is today an advanced all-digital guided weapon system with numerous selectable flight profiles and trajectories, according to Kongsberg.

The state-of-the-art missile with a sophisticated passive infra-red homing array is designed for use in the littorals as well as on open sea.

The ship-launched version of Penguin is operational on board small and medium sized ships of different navies. The helicopter-launched Penguin is operational with several nations and is integrated to different types of helicopters, the company said.

A total of eight countries, including Norway, are currently using the short-to-medium range anti-ship cruise missile.