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DSA 2016: Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile is a Force Multiplier for the Royal Malaysian Navy.
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DSA
2016 Naval News - Kongsberg NSM |
DSA
2016: Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile is a Force Multiplier for the
Royal Malaysian Navy |
By Xavier Vavasseur At the DSA 2016 tri-service defence exhibition currently held in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) Kongsberg of Norway was showcasing its Naval Strike Missile (NSM). Navy Recognition was the first to reveal that the Royal Malaysian Navy's future Gowind class Littoral Combat Ship would be fitted with NSM anti-ship missiles during LIMA 2015. At DSA this year, Navy Recognition got the latest from Kongsberg. |
 NSM full scale model on Kongsberg stand at DSA 2016 |
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"Regarding
ship installed equipment, we started a year behind schedule but we now
are ahead of the schedule." Hans Kongelf, Vice President of
Missile Systems at Kongsberg, told us during DSA 2016. "We are having a very good cooperation with both DCNS and Boustead, we are facing no problems. The launchers and missiles will be installed in Malaysia" Kongelf added. Kongsberg and DCNS know each other very well as they worked together in the past for the Royal Norwegian Navy Skjold class FPB. We were told that this experience was important. It was also a factor to convince the customer in Malaysia that the NSM was low risk as both companies have worked together in the past. Today, Kongsberg works mostly with Boustead however. The Norwegian company has a training program for both the ship equipment and (later) for the missile. In addition to the launchers and missiles, Kongsberg also delivers some cabinets and equipment placed between the CIC workstations and the missiles. The Royal Malaysian Navy did a thorough analysis of what capabilities an anti-ship missile will need to have in the future, Navy Recognition learned. Other countries such as the USA, Norway, India have conducted similar analysis. India selected the supersonic solution while Norway selected the high subsonic with stealth & maneuverability. Regarding Malaysia, it is the NSM defence penetration and ship recognition capabilities that played a key role in the choice. “In addition to the Exocet already deployed by the RMN, the NSM will allow more flexibility for different scenarios, different rules of engagement. Finally, using a combination of Exocet and NSM during an engagement has a force multiplier effect. If you launch one Exocet and one NSM it is very difficult for the target to know what to do as it implies double jamming, double decoys, etc. There are lots of advantages in fielding two types of missiles!” explained Hand Kongelf. Produced by Kongsberg, the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an autonomous, long-range, precision missile designed to engage high-value, well-defended targets at sea and ashore. According to Kongsberg, The NSM is the only 5th generation long range precision strike missile in existence today. The missile combines unsurpassed penetration capability due to “low observable” shape, super sea skim, high-G random maneuvers and I3R (intelligent imaging infra red) seeker with Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) providing programmable hit-point and optimized fuze-setting. The missile is in use with the Royal Norwegian Navy and the Polish Navy (from coastal batteries). The US Navy has tested the missile from USS Coronado (LCS-4) Littoral Combat Ship in September 2014 and is about to field it aboard USS Freedom (LCS 1). |
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