Article Posted on : - Aug 18, 2016

The Naval Strike Missile is operational on land and at sea, and can climb and descend according to terrain when it travels over land. Photo: Kongsberg.

LOUISVILLE (BNS): Raytheon Company has received an initial contract to produce Naval Strike Missile (NSM) launchers at its production facility in Louisville.

Kongsberg Defence Systems awarded the initial contract for qualification units. The award follows a July announcement that Raytheon will produce NSM launchers in the US.

The company also plans to perform final assembly, integration and test of the Naval Strike Missile at Raytheon's Tucson, Arizona facility.

"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," Harald Ånnestad, Kongsberg Defence Systems president was quoted as saying in the news release.

With a range of more than 100 nautical miles, NSM is a long-range, anti-ship missile that provides superior strike capability against land and sea targets.

"Building NSM launchers at our Louisville facility is an excellent extension of our long-standing relationship with Kongsberg," added Dr. Taylor W. Lawrence, Raytheon Missile Systems president.

The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is a long-range, anti-ship missile that provides superior strike capability against land and sea targets with a range of just over 100 nautical miles.

NSM provides excellent penetration capability against enemy air defence systems and has high survivability against modern and future air defence systems. The system can fly at extremely low sea-skimming altitude, and has terrain-following flight capability. It also has an advanced Imaging Infrared Seeker with Autonomous Target Recognition.

NSM is the best over-the-horizon missile for the US Navy's Littoral Combat Ship.