Kongsberg Gruppen ASA (‘KONGSBERG’) has signed a contract worth NOK 10 billion for the delivery of the NASAMS air defence system to the Kingdom of Belgium. KONGSBERG signed the contract with the Armed Forces procurement authority of the Netherlands, which is already a NASAMS customer. The Netherlands is procuring NASAMS on behalf of Belgium and the end user of the equipment is the Belgian Air Force. NASAMS’ modularity and open architecture enable the continuous introduction of new technology, which ensures that the system can adapt to new threats and missions throughout its lifetime.
“We are very pleased to welcome Belgium to the family of NASAMS nations,” said Eirik Lie, President and CEO of KONGSBERG. “With the acquisition of NASAMS, Belgium will gain solid national air defence coverage and at the same time contribute to increased European security.”
NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, also known as Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) is a short- to medium-range: 4 ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and RTX Corporation. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and fixed wing aircraft,: 11 firing any of a wide range of existing missiles.
NASAMS was the first application of a surface-launched AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile). 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 to integrate with C-RAM and C-UAS systems, and introduces mobile air-liftable launchers. NASAMS has proven interoperability with longer range systems such as Patriot. An enhanced NASAMS 2 was developed in the 2000s and became operational in 2006. A third generation, NASAMS 3, was developed in the 2010s and fielded in 2019.
