On Friday, December 8, the Latvian Ministry of Defense Andris Spruds and the Ambassador of the United States of America Christopher Robinson announced the conclusion of the contract for the purchase of the anti-ship missile systems Naval Strike Missile produced by the US company Raytheon and the Norwegian company Kongsberg. The total amount of the contract is 105 million US dollars. This missile system is used by NATO members such as the USA, Poland, Germany, Norway, Romania, Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. Naval Strike Missile is an anti-ship missile system capable of affecting both sea and land targets at a distance of up to 185 kilometers. This missile system is used by NATO members such as the USA, Poland, Germany, Norway, Romania, Great Britain, Canada and the Netherlands. It is planned that the delivery of the Naval Strike Missile anti-ship missile system will begin in 2027.
“This day marks an important milestone in the long-standing security cooperation between the United States and Latvia. Russia’s brutal, aggressive war against Ukraine has demonstrated that democratic nations must unite to defend our sovereignty, values, and freedom. The United States is proud to support Latvia’s defense capability in the making,” says US Ambassador Christopher Robinson.
“At a time when the world is facing various geopolitical challenges, we greatly appreciate the US contribution to strengthening Latvia’s security. The anti-ship missile system will be a new capability of the National Armed Forces and an important part of Latvia’s defense system. It will ensure the protection of Latvia’s coast, the safety of waterways and, if necessary, will be included in the common defense system of the Alliance,” says Minister of Defense Andris Spr?ds.
It has already been reported that in April 2022, the Saeima supported the amendments to the Defense Financing Law, envisaging a gradual increase in funding for national defense to 2.5% of the gross domestic product forecast for the relevant year by 2025. On the other hand, in the missile program of the National Armed Forces, the capabilities to be developed as a priority were highlighted – anti-ship missile systems, medium-range air defense and missile artillery. The additional funding provided accelerates the deployment of the National Armed Forces’ critical capabilities approximately five years earlier than previously planned.
The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) is an anti-ship and land-attack missile developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA). The original Norwegian name was Nytt sjømålsmissil (literally “New sea target missile”, indicating that it is the successor of the Penguin missile). The English marketing name Naval Strike Missile was adopted later. The state-of-the-art design and use of composite materials is meant to give the missile sophisticated stealth capabilities. The missile will weigh slightly more than 400 kg (880 lb) and have a range of more than 185 km (115 mi; 100 nmi). NSM is designed for littoral waters (“brown water”) as well as for open sea (“green water and blue water”) scenarios. The usage of a high strength titanium alloy blast/fragmentation warhead from TDW is in line with the modern lightweight design and features insensitive high-explosive. Warhead initiation is by a void-sensing Programmable Intelligent Multi-Purpose Fuze designed to optimise effect against hard targets.
