JAMES CITY COUNTY, Va. — A Norwegian multinational company will soon manufacture missiles for the Navy in James City County.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Navy awarded 'Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace' a multi-year procurement contract for the delivery of Naval Strike Missile (NSM) missiles to the Navy and Fleet Marine Force.
The contract between the two entities would last over a five-year period. The fixed price contract is valued at NOK 10 billion which is equal to around $89.7 million. This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value to about NOK 12 billion which equates to upwards of $1 billion in the United States.
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"This contract is the largest missile contract in Kongsberg's history and an important milestone for us. We are pleased the United States has selected Kongsberg as an industry partner and look forward to continued cooperation to support US defense capabilities and create value for important stakeholders in Norway and the US," said Geir Håøy, President and CEO of Kongsberg.
NSM is the centerpiece of the Navy's Over-the-Horizon Weapons System (OTH-WS) Program, and is being installed on Littoral Combat Ships and CONSTELLATION-class Frigates. Kongsberg is also delivering NSM to the US Marine Corps as a key component of its NMESIS (Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System) Program.
Kongsberg recently announced the building of a new missile factory in James City County, Virginia, in response to increasing demand. Officials say the missile factory will provide additional production capacity, sustainment and in-country tech refresh capabilities for Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missiles and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM).
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"Kongsberg is investing in a big way in the US market by making Virginia the US home of our new missile factory, which will entail hiring more than 180 people. We will also be investing more than $100 million into the Commonwealth of Virginia over the next few years, in terms of property, plant and equipment," said Heather Armentrout, president and general manager of Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, Inc., the US subsidiary of Kongsberg.
The new facility in James City County will be equipped to assemble, upgrade and repair both NSM and JSM. The NSM is an anti-ship missile with superior operational performance and high survivability against all enemy defense systems. The JSM is an air-launched strike missile designed to fulfill complex missions, such as Anti-surface Warfare (ASuW) and land attack.
