Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS (KONGSBERG) has been awarded a contract of approx. The upgrade of the NASAMS Sentinel radar’s Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) ensures the system operates in accordance with future NATO standards, further improving the already secure identification of friendly aircraft. MNOK 266 by Norwegian Materiel Defence Agency for upgrade of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS). NASAMS is the world’s most widely used air defence system in its segment, jointly developed and manufactured in a long-time close partnership between Raytheon and KONGSBERG.
“Norway continues to upgrade their ground-based air defence capability by implementing the latest available technology. The modernization will enhance NATO commonality and reinforce the NASAMS capability,” says Kjetil Reiten Myhra, Executive Vice President of Integrated Defence Systems in Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS.
NASAMS (National/Norwegian Advanced Surface to Air Missile System) is a distributed and networked medium to long range air-defence system. NASAMS was the first surface-based application for the AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile). The Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) teamed up with Raytheon and initiated the NASAMS programme as a cooperative effort for the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF). NASAMS 2 is an upgraded version of the NASAMS air-defence system and it has been operational since 2007. NASAMS capabilities are enhanced by the system’s networked and distributed nature.
The RNoAF together with KDA conducted a mid-life update of NASAMS, called NASAMS 2, and the upgraded version was first handed over to RNoAF in mid-2006. The major difference between the two versions is the use of Link 16 on NASAMS 2 as well as a better ground radar. A complete NASAMS (2) battery consists of 12 missile launchers (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. In April 2019 RNoAF upgraded to NASAMS 3, and in May 2019 the first live firing test were conducted.
