Introduction to the Naval Strike Missile Family

The Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and its air-launched derivative, the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), are a family of multi-role cruise missiles developed by the Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace. Designed as stealthy, long-range, and standoff precision strike cruise missiles, they enable naval vessels and aircraft to engage well-defended sea and land targets from standoff distances.

Naval Strike Missile (NSM) - Baseline Model

The NSM is the foundational weapon of the family. It is a highly versatile anti-ship and land-attack cruise missile. It is suitable for operations in cluttered littoral (coastal) environments as well as the open seas.

The missile weighs approximately 400 kg and has a length of ~4 meters. It uses composite materials to reduce weight and a sophisticated stealthy shape to achieve a very low radar cross-section. The NSM carries a 120 kg titanium-cased blast-fragmentation warhead. After launch from a ship or ground-based vehicle via a solid rocket booster, it is powered by a Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet.

As a standoff weapon, the NSM has an operational range exceeding 200 kilometers and travels at high subsonic speeds (Mach 0.93). It is capable of sea-skimming flight and can fly over and around landmasses to strike targets from unexpected angles. Its guidance suite uses an Inertial Navigation System (INS) with GPS updates and terrain-following (TERCOM) for mid-course flight and an Imaging Infrared (IIR) seeker for terminal guidance. It is capable of autonomous target recognition, acquisition and tracking, along with the ability to distinguish specific targets within a group.

Joint Strike Missile (JSM) - Air-Launched Variant

The JSM is a significant evolution of the NSM, optimized for air launch from modern fighter aircraft, like F-35. The primary design driver was the requirement for internal carriage on stealth aircraft.

To achieve this, the JSM’s form factor was altered to fit within the F-35’s internal weapons bays, resulting in a slightly different physical profile. The missile has a launch weight of 416 kg and a length of 4 meters. It incorporates a larger, redesigned 120 kg warhead for enhanced lethality.

JSM has an improved operational range, estimated at over 555 km in a hi-hi-lo flight profile and 185 km in a low-altitude lo-lo-lo profile. It retains the NSM’s IIR terminal guidance and autonomous targeting capabilities. Additionally it also adds a two-way datalink. This allows the missile to communicate with its launch platform, a central control room, or even coordinate strikes with other missiles in the air.

Other Variants and Concepts

Several related programs have been developed to expand the deployment options for the missile family.

  • NSM Coastal Defence System (CDS): This is a ground-based system that uses the standard NSM for coastal defense. A typical battery consists of mobile launch vehicles, command and control vehicles, and mobile radars, providing a flexible and survivable land-based anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) capability.

  • Vertical Launch JSM (VL-JSM): Kongsberg studied a vertically launched version of the JSM for naval vessels. The missile’s compact shaping for the F-35 bomb bay also made it compatible with the Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (VLS), allowing ships to carry the weapon without the need for deck-mounted canister launchers.

  • Submarine-Launched JSM: A submarine-launched variant of the JSM was also explored. Its compact design makes it suitable for potential deployment from the torpedo tubes of modern submarines, providing a covert, long-range anti-ship capability.