Britain to buy Norwegian NSM anti-ship missiles with a range of 185 km instead of American Harpoons

The UK's Royal Navy will retire US Harpoon missiles next year. Replacement

there is already one for them.

What is known

American Harpoon anti-ship missilesFor a long time they formed the basis of the strike weapons of the British fleet. In 2023, they will be replaced by the Norwegian Naval Strike Missile (NSM), developed by Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace.

This is reported by the Ministry of Defense of Norway.The details of the contract were agreed upon by the defense ministers of the two countries, and they made the corresponding statement on board the flagship aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, which is now in Oslo.

The UK will receive NSM missiles for frigates anddestroyers of the Type 23 and Type 45 classes, respectively. The first phase will include the conversion of three ships over the course of a year. The work will take place at the shipyards of Babcock International with the participation of BAE Systems and Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace.

As for the NSMs themselves, these are subsonic missiles,which can destroy both surface and ground targets. The warhead has a mass of 120 kg, and the entire rocket weighs 410 kg. The maximum launch range is 185 km.