Norway’s Kongsberg to open new Virginia missile production plant

By Jen Judson, Defense News September 18, 2024
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The Naval Strike Missile can launch from both land- and sea-based platforms. Norway’s Kongsberg plans to build these and the Joint Strike Missile in a new Virgnia production facility. (Photo courtesy of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace)

Norway’s Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace is opening up a new missile production facility in Virginia as global demand continues to rise amid major conflicts playing out in Ukraine and the Middle East, the company said Tuesday.

Kongsberg announced earlier this year that it plans to expand production for missiles in Norway and open a new missile factory in Australia.

The James City County, Virginia, location will “provide additional production capacity, sustainment and in-country tech refresh capabilities for Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM),” the company release states.

NSM is an anti-ship missile and JSM is an air-launched missile used on the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A fighter jet for complex missions like anti-surface warfare and land attack.

Kongsberg already has a U.S. production facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

“The new missile production facilities in the US, Australia and Norway address the strong and long-term demand for our unique technology and the critical need to strengthen collective defence capabilities,” Geir Håøy, Kongsberg’s CEO, said. “Kongsberg has a proud history in the U.S. and we are delighted to continue to invest in the country to support American interests while creating jobs locally,” he added.

The company noted the decision to open the new U.S. facility “was heavily influenced by the possibility that the Department of Defense could award a multiyear procurement contract to Kongsberg.”

The Pentagon has pursued a number of new multiyear procurement contracts not usually awarded to missile programs. Earlier this year, the Army awarded a multiyear contract to Lockheed Martin for the Patriot Advanced Capability Increment 3 Missile Segment Enhancement missile and plans to soon award a similar contract for the Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System (GMLRS) missile.

“The US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force are important customers for Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile,” Eirik Lie, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace president, said. “Their demand signals gave us the predictability we needed to make this investment in the United States.”

The new missile factory, focused on assembly, upgrades and repairs for NSM and JSM, will include hiring more than 180 people. The company will invest more than $100 million into Virginia in the next few years “in terms of property, plant and equipment,” Heather Armentrout, president of Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, Inc., the company’s U.S. subsidiary, said.

Kongsberg isn’t the only Nordic country expanding missile production in the U.S. Saab announced earlier this year that it would be growing its footprint stateside with a new facility that will manufacture ground combat weapons and missile systems.

The new site is part of a global manufacturing push from the Swedish company to quadruple its global capacity to produce its ground combat weapons. The new facility will support production of programs like the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb.

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