Norway has taken delivery of its first Konsgberg-produced Joint Strike Missile (JSM), ahead of the weapon’s full integration with the Lockheed Martin F-35.
“The armed forces have received their first super missile from the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Work will now begin to stockpile the JSM missile at Orland air base,” defence minister Tore O Sandvik said at the Royal Norwegian Air Force facility on 28 April.
With the JSM currently the only combined anti-ship and strategic land attack weapon suitable for carriage within the F-35’s internal weapons bays, its Norwegian developer has already also secured export orders from Australia, Japan and the USA.
“This missile gives Norway the capability to locate and defeat heavily defended targets at significant distances, with high precision and low risk of detection. It is the first weapon that allows smaller nations like Norway to credibly threaten heavily protected targets on land and at sea,” Sandvik says.
“The combination of the F-35 and advanced weaponry represents an entirely new level of challenge for anyone who might consider attacking Norway or its allies,” he adds. “It marks a substantial strengthening of the armed forces’ operational capability.”
“Now the next chapter begins: integrating the JSM with the F-35,” the Norwegian defence ministry says.
Oslo earlier this month took delivery of its last of 52 conventional take-off and landing F-35As, and Sandvik says the fifth-generation type “is performing beyond expectations”.
“The F-35 fleet has already participated in numerous exercises and operations, both at home and abroad, including three deployments to Iceland,” the Norwegian defence ministry notes. “The recent mission in Poland proved the air wing’s ability to carry out real-world operations abroad on behalf of NATO,” he adds.
