The only operational fifth-generation anti-ship missile of the West today is the Naval Strike
Missile, shortly NSM. It has significant advantages over its previous generation counterparts.
The air-launched version of the NSM, the Joint Strike Missile, shortly JSM, is one of the
two missiles in its class compatible with the F-35's internal weapon bays, in the world.
These days when we are going through the beginning of the Second Cold War, they are one of the
most remarkable new weapon systems. As the Weapon Detective, we are investigating the
NSM and JSM, deadly siblings of new missile family.
Please don't forget to subscribe to our channel, before we start and give us a thumbs up if
you like our video. To be notified of our new video, please click the bell button.
The NSM has gamechanger features in naval warfare. So why was such an innovative anti-ship
missile developed by the Norwegian Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace instead of the defence
companies of other major Western countries such as the USA or France? The answer to this
question lies in geography and history. At the early stage of the First Cold War,
Norway controlling the exit of the Baltic and Barents seas had been keeping in service
a considerable huge fleet consisted of major surface combatants.
In 1960, the Royal Norwegian Navy decided to replace its big warships with small fast-attack
crafts. In 1962, Norway also started to study on an
indigenous anti-ship missile development project, because no Western country was working on
developing a system that could meet the needs of the Royal Norwegian Navy. The fruit of
this project, The Penguin missile became operational, in 1970. Since then, Norway has become one
of the world's leading countries in anti-ship missile technologies.
In the late 1990s, Norway started a study on a new anti-ship missile as the replacement
the Penguin. The programme goal was that the new missile,
called NSM, was capable of responding to new threats that may arise after 2015. After extensive
trials, the Norwegian Royal Navy gave the initial serial production order in 2007.
A Skjold-class missile boat KMN Glimt conducted the first NSM fire test, five years later.
In 2013, the missile was tested first time with a live warhead and hit successfully the
decommissioned Oslo-class corvette KMN Trondheim. Main design criteria for NSM, defined as the
fifth generation anti-ship missile, is to have higher resistance against active and
passive self-defence systems of the ships than current ones.
To achieve this purpose, Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace engineers prioritized stealth.
The fuselage made of composite materials has the design efficiently reducing the radar
cross-section. There is no active sensor on the NSM to avoid
enemy ships electronic support measure systems. The missile has high-resolution passive imaging
infrared, shortly IIR, seeker as a guidance system. The advanced software of the guidance
system can independently detect, identify, and discriminate the ships. It can also choose
its target autonomously. Thanks to this feature, the NSM can engage
a ship which is near the coast and differentiate a surface combatant from nearby civilian ships.
Also, thanks to this IIR seeker, the missile does not need to be pre-targeting before the
launch. This feature reduces the reaction time.
The missile can fly over and around the land. During the cruise phase, the NSM uses its
GPS, inertial and terrain reference navigation systems.
Thanks to this ability, the NSM can navigate the coastal waters with a large number of
rocks and islets without any problems. Also, the missile can cruise smoothly on the
land too. When an obstacle is detected, it can re-sets its course independently. This
gives it a unique capability not found in other anti-ship missiles.
Naturally, an enemy surface combatant sailing close to its own shores or being in its own
harbour awaits the threat from the direction from the sea.
For this reason, the enemy's defence systems focus their attention towards the sea.
The NSM has a design that turns this into its advantage.
The NSM can attack its target over land after infiltrating the enemy mainland at a point
far from the detection range of the sensors. During the terminal phase, to avoid the close-in
weapon systems, the missile starts to conduct the high-g evasive manoeuvres very hard to
predict, which consist of turning in all three dimensions.
The NSM which can track the target in different directions can execute its final attack with
the most suitable angle. Its circular error probable is smaller than
1 metre. Thanks to its GPS, inertial, and terrain reference
navigation systems, the NSM is also effective against the land targets. In 2016, the Royal
Norwegian Navy officially confirmed this capability. The titanium-coated warhead of the NSM is
insensitive, which means only programmable fuze can active it.
In case of the missile may not find an infrared signature that matches the pre-programmed
targets, it destroys itself. The missiles can be deployed on the ship for
three years without checking. Its shelf life is 30 years by overhauling every 5 to 10 years.
The NSM has been currently preferred by Germany, Malaysia, Norway, Poland, and the USA.
The Royal Norwegian Navy uses the missile on its Fridtjof Nansen-class frigates and
Skjold-class corvettes. Soon, we will see the NSM on the Maharaja
Lela-class frigates of Malaysia. Also, the US Navy will equip its Freedom and
Independence-class littoral combat ships as well as the Constellation-class frigates with
this missile. Poland uses the NSM with its coastal defence
batteries. Similarly, the USA preferred this missile
for the same mission. Today more than 21,000 US Marines are operating
in the west Pacific, many of whom are inside the first island chain near China.
To increase their offensive and defensive capabilities, soon, the US Marine Corps will
have a new vehicle called the JLTV ROGUE Fires. Developed as part of the Navy/Marine Expeditionary
Ship Interdiction System, the system consists of the NSM launch tubes on an unmanned version
of the JLTV 4x4 vehicle. The NSM 3.96 metres long. Its wingspan is
0.7 metre inside the launch tube, and 1.36 metre after launched. The weight of the missile
is 407 kilograms. Thanks to Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet engine the NSM can reach the maximum
speed of Mach 0.95. Its range is over 185 kilometres. The missile has a 125-kilogram
high explosive blast-fragmentation warhead. The air-launched multi-role version of the
missile is the JSM. It has suitable sizes for the weapon bays
of the F-35 Lightning II. The JSM which is still not operational but will be one of the
two missile proper sizes for the weapon bays of this aircraft.
The other system is the Turkish SOM-J. Norway funds this JSM development programme
with Australia. The F-35 will able to carry two of these in its internal bays, and two
additional missiles externally. It has a two-way communications line so that the JSM can communicate
with the command centre or other missiles in the air.
Different from the NSM, the JSM would reach the maximum range of over 185 kilometres in
low-low-low flight profile, and over 560 kilometres in hi-hi-low flight profile.
The dimension the missile is also different from its ship-launched version. The 4-meter
long JSM has a stowed wingspan of 0.48 meters. It can be equipped with a 375-kilogram warhead.
But in this case, the maximum range of the missile reduces to 370 kilometres.
After the completion of the development phase, the first test fire was conducted from an
F-16 Fighting Falcon, in 2018. Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace and project
partner Lockheed Martin aims to complete the necessary software updates for using with
the F-35 Lightning II by 2021. If everything goes as planned, the JSM would be operational
by 2025. Japan and Norway have already ordered the
JSM. Also, Australia, South Korea, the UK, and
the USA have announced their interest in this missile for use with their F-35s.
Japan's acquirement of JSM is something that deserves special attention.
After the Second Cold War, the Allies had constitutionally banned Japan to possess guided
land-attack missiles. So, Japan Air Self-Defense Force had only
a limited amount of precision-guided bomb. However, after 2017, the USA has lifted this
ban. Japan Air Self-Defense Forces have two important
airbases on the Kyushu Island; Nyutabaru Airbase and Tsuiki Airfield.
Also, there is one big airbase of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces on the island, Kanoya
Airfield. The F-35s took off from these bases, can reach
a suitable range to attack all main naval facilities of the East Sea Fleet of the Chinese
Navy without any radar detection with the JSMs.
The same situation is also possible for the Japanese Lightning IIs took off from Chitose
and Misawa airbases against the Russian Navy. That's why Japan's JSM acquirement is important
enough to change the balances in the region. Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace is also working
on the VLS launching and submarine launching versions of the NSM.
As a new anti-ship missile, the NSM has not yet found an opportunity to be fired in anger.
So, it has not got any combat experience. But, the missile has proved itself with the
many important test fires. In 2014, the Royal Norwegian Navy frigate
KMN Fridtjof Nansen used its NSM to sink decommissioned amphibious assault ship, USS Ogden, in the
naval exercise RIMPAC 2014 in the Pacific Ocean.
In the same year, the Independence-class littoral combat ship, USS Coronado, conducted the first
launch of the NSM of the US Navy. The missile was fired from a launcher positioned
on ship's flight deck. During that time the NSM was competing with
the RGM-84 Harpoon of Boeing and the LRASM of Lockheed Martin for the US Navy's Over-the-Horizon
Weapon System Programme. After these two companies were withdrawn from
the programme in 2017, the NSM was officially selected as the winner in 2018. The US service
designation of the missile is the RGM-184A. During RIMPAC 2018, the units of the United
States Army Pacifican fired an NSM from the shore to sink decommissioned Newport-class
landing ship, USS Racine. One year later, another Independence-class
littoral combat ship, USS Gabrielle Giffords fired this missile to sink decommissioned
Oliver Hazard Perry-class frigate, USS Ford. Unlike the USS Coronado, her missile launchers
were not on the flight deck, but just behind the 57mm bow gun.
Since then USS Gabrielle Giffords has preserved the NSMs and has been deployed in the seas
off China. The Western Pacific is the hottest region
of the Second Cold War in the seas. Japan and the USA, which see this region as a priority
security area, have advanced missile design and production capabilities. It is interesting
however these two countries prefer NSM instead of developing a new system. Clearly, even
this fact is proof of how successful NSM is with its superior features. It would not be
a prophecy to say that its air-launched version, the JSM, will also be preferred by many F-35
users in the future and will be used in many important conflicts.
Thanks for watching our video. And please don't forget to subscribe to our channel and
give us a thumbs up if you like our video. To be notified of our new videos, please click
the bell button.