Noregian defense minister Ine Eriksen Søreide with the Norwegian Army's new Kongsberg air defense missile battery. (Photo : Norwegian Army)
The Norwegian Army will now rely on its own resources for air defense against aircraft, missiles and drones with the acquisition of the Army Ground Based Air Defense system and its Raytheon AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) from the United States.
There is a similar surface-to-air (SAM) missile system called the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) in service with the Royal Norwegian Air Force (RNoAF). NASAMS is also a ground launch system for the AMRAAM.
The move to equip the army with its own organic air defense system ends a policy in place since the early 2000s in which ground-based air defense has been the responsibility of RNoAF.
Norway's Ministry of Defense (MoD) said the Forsvarsmateriell (Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency - NDMA) will work with NASAMS manufacturer Kongsberg Defense Systems to define the final system solution for the army, and then place a production contract.
Deliveries of the new system to the army are expected to take place between 2018 and 2021.
Kongsberg described the Army Ground Based Air Defense as a highly mobile, short-range air-defense system based on existing elements in the armed forces in combination with the acquisition of new elements. The system will reuse NASAMS command and control and its unique network solutions.
MoD said the army system is being obtained under Project 7628 Kampluftvern for new acquisitions and the reuse of existing equipment and solutions from RNoAF.
"Providing protection from air attacks must be modular and flexible, and it should move quickly," said Defense Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide.
"It will provide protection against threats from the air so that the Army can benefit from maximum operational freedom. The Army has not had a combat air defense capability since the early 2000s, and this is a milestone in our continuing commitment to the Army."
The Norwegian Army will operate two versions of its new air-defense system: a high mobility variant, and a new version to be mounted onto a tracked chassis.
The tracked platform will provide an organic air-defense capability for the Norwegian Army's Leopard 2 tank units.
"NASAMS is a very important product for Kongsberg and one of the most successful internationally," said Kongsberg Defence Systems president Eirik Lie.
"We are very pleased to be have been chosen as supplier for the Army Mobile Ground Based Air Defense.
