The government of Spain has announced its decision to modernise and acquire additional NASAMS air defense systems from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (‘KONGSBERG’) in a deal valued at approximately EUR 410 million. On April 19, the Spanish Armaments Directorate, Dirección General de Armamento y Material (DGAM), filed a notification of award for the NASAMS modernisation programme. This programme will significantly increase the existing NASAMS capability of Spain and further strengthen the cooperation between Spain and Norway. The contract is expected to be signed in May 2024.
NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System or National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range? ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and Raytheon. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and fixed wing aircraft, firing any of a wide range of existing missiles. NASAMS uses existing air-to-air missiles such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder, AMRAAM, and AMRAAM-ER, there may be thousands of older missiles in NATO’s arsenal that can be fired from a NASAMS battery without change.
NASAMS was the first application of a surface-launched AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile). The AMRAAM is one of the most widely used air-to-air missiles in the world, and stockpiles of it are higher than any other comparable system. NASAMS 2 is an upgraded version of the system capable of using Link 16, which has been operational since 2007. As of 2022, NASAMS 3 is the latest upgrade. Deployed in 2019, it adds capability to fire AIM-9X Sidewinder, and AMRAAM-ER missiles, and introduces mobile air-liftable launchers. NASAMS has proven interoperability with longer range systems such as Patriot.
Spain was the first international NASAMS user and the country has operated NASAMS for more than 20 years. Spanish NASAMS units are currently deployed in the Baltics as part of NATO’s Air Shielding Mission. Today there are 13 NATO and partner nations in the NASAMS user group. In response to the need to strengthen the defense capabilities of the Baltic region after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a Spanish-supplied ground-to-air anti-aircraft missile NASAMS battery was deployed at to Estonia and Latvia. The unit is combat-ready and will be deployed to Estonia on the command of the NATO Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR). A similar unit has been deployed to Latvia, the two systems will be linked and will be part of NATO’s Eastern flank air and missile defense.
