KONGSBERG has signed a contract with a value of NOK 4.7 billion for the delivery of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) to a new customer. The country is the sixth nation to acquire the missile for its fighter fleet. The Joint Strike Missile (JSM; U.S designation AGM-184A Kraken) is a multi-role, air-launched cruise missile under development by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and American company Raytheon Missiles & Defense. The JSM is derived from the Naval Strike Missile (NSM; U.S designation RGM-184A). The multi-role air-launched cruise missile has already been selected by Norway, Japan, Australia, the US and Germany. The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is a 5th generation strike missile, engineered to evade advanced defence systems.
JSM is engineered to secure absolute theater dominance through a meticulous fusion of survivability, lethality, and target selectivity. Designed to penetrate contested airspace and defeat sophisticated anti-access/area-denial (A2/AD) networks, the JSM utilizes passive sensors, low-observable sea-skimming, and terrain-following flight profiles to maximize stealth, while delivering high agility and precise time-on-target synchronization. Upon reaching the objective area, its advanced autonomous target recognition (ATR) and target discrimination capabilities ensure precise aimpoint tracking within cluttered environments, enabling the system to deliver high-consequence warhead effects while mitigating collateral damage in strict compliance with operational Rules of Engagement (ROE).
Engineered for maximized lethality and multi-domain dominance, the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) represents a significant capability leap over the baseline Naval Strike Missile, integrating an expanded payload with a reconfigured low-observable airframe optimized for F-35 internal weapon bay integration. This versatile asset provides theater commanders with a highly flexible maritime and land-attack solution deployable across diverse aerial launch platforms. Furthermore, the JSM significantly extends the operational envelope, offering a flexible tactical reach estimated from 150 nautical miles to over 300 nautical miles depending on high-low or low-low flight profiles, thereby enhancing standoff survivability against contested integrated air defense systems.
The JSM will feature an option for ground strike and a two-way communications line, so that the missile can communicate with the central control room or other missiles in the air. This missile will be integrated with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Studies have shown that the F-35 would be able to carry two of these in its internal bays, while four additional missiles could be carried externally. Lockheed Martin and Kongsberg signed a joint-marketing agreement for this air-launched version of the NSM, as well as an agreement committing both parties to integrating the JSM on the F-35 platform. The JSM will have multicore computers running the Integrity real-time operating system from Green Hills Software.
