Lithuania to procure more Norwegian NASAMS air defense missile systems.

December 27, 2018, Lithuania has publish a news on the official website of the Lithuanian Defense Ministry announcing the procurement of additional NASAMS ground-based medium-range air defense system combat and inert missiles from the Norwegian Ministry of Defense during a meeting at the Defense Materiel Agency under the Ministry of National Defense of Lithuania.

NASAMS air defense missile system during firing test. (Picture source Konsberg)

According to the contract signed by the Ministry of National Defense and Norway’s Kongsberg NASAMS manufacturer on 26 October 2017, the system procured by Lithuania is new, except for launchers that are pre-used by the Norwegian Armed Forces and currently upgraded. The systems procured from Norway use U.S.-made AMRAAM aircraft defense missiles capable of destroying aircraft and missiles of an adversary several tens of kilometers away.

All the procured equipment is planned to be delivered to Lithuania, all personnel trained, and all components integrated into one system capable of air defense – airspace surveillance and control, air threat warning, and target destruction - by 2021. NASAMS systems will be given to the Air Defence Battalion of the Lithuanian Air Force, the systems are suitable for quick redeployment to any location in Lithuania or any NATO area of operation.

Preliminary value of the NASAMS system procurement project, which is equipment for two air defense batteries, logistical support package and training for operators and service personnel, is approximately 110 million Euros.

The NASAMS (National/Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) is a medium-range air defense missile system designed and developed jointly by Raytheon and Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace, primarily for the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF). The missile of the NASAMS system has a range of up to 25 km. Other sources cite a range of over 15 km but this depends on the missile version used.

A standard NASAMS unit has a modular design comprising a command post FDC, an active 3D radar AN/MPQ64F1 Sentinel, a passive electro-optic and infra-red sensor and a number of missile canister launchers with AMRAAM missiles. Normally, four NASAMS units are netted in a battalion network.

The first version of the NASAMS used by the Norwegian armed forces was upgraded to NASAMS 2 level and operational in 2007. It use the more capable AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel 3D radar. Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS) computer technology, a new multi-role radio, and Kongsberg's Ground Based Air Defense Operations Center will be added to the NASAMS II.

A complete NASAMS 2 battery consists of 12 missile launchers (LCHR) (each one carrying six AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles), eight radars (AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel F1 Improved Sentinel X band 3D radar), one fire control centre (CTOC), one electro-optical camera vehicle (MSP500) and one Tactical Control Cell (TCC) vehicle.