NASAMS (Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System)
is the world’s first operational Network Centric Short to Medium Range Ground Based Air Defence 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 aircraft
A standard NASAMS unit has a modular design comprising a command post the FDC
an active 3D radar Raytheon AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel
a passive electro-optical and infrared sensor
and a number of missile canister launchers with AMRAAM missiles
Normally, a number of NASAMS fire units are netted together
in a uniquely designed ”hard-realtime” communication network
to ensure minimum latency over large distances for maximum system performance
utilizing the unique capabilities of the AMRAAM missile
Development of NASAMS began in the 1990s when the Norwegian company
Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) teamed up with Raytheon
and initiated the NASAMS programme as a cooperative effort for the Royal Norwegian Air Force
The first generation of NASAMS was operationally fielded in 1998
An enhanced NASAMS 2 was developed in the 2000s and became operational in 2006
while a third generation, NASAMS 3, was developed in the 2010s and fielded in 2019
There were 12 official operators as of 2020
Kongsberg stated, NASAMS is in operational use in Norway, Spain, USA
Netherlands, Finland and one undisclosed customer
The system is in production for Oman, Lithuania, Australia, Hungary and Qatar
NASAMS is in use with both Armies and Air Forces around the world
In addition, Poland, Greece, Sweden and Turkey
operate the Konsberg Command and Control solution for various weapon systems
The United States is sending Ukraine two NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems
four additional counter-artillery radars and up to 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition
as part of its latest weapons packages for Ukraine
the Pentagon said on Friday, 1 July 2022