Tucson-based Raytheon Missile Systems stands to gain a new production program as it finalizes a deal with Norway’s Kongsberg Defence Systems to build a naval missile system in the United States.
Production of Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile, including final assembly, system integration and testing, would take place at Raytheon’s Tucson missile plants, Raytheon said Tuesday at the Farnborough International Airshow near London.
Launchers would be manufactured at Raytheon’s site in Louisville, Kentucky, the company said.
“We will assemble the missile and launchers in the same Raytheon factories where we produce many of the world’s most advanced missiles and other weapons systems,” Raytheon Missile Systems President Taylor Lawrence said.
Harald Ånnestad, president of Kongsberg Defence Systems, said U.S. production of the NSM will help ramp up production and sustain the program while creating jobs in both nations.
A Raytheon spokesman said it is unclear how many new jobs could be created by the new program. Missile Systems is Southern Arizona’s largest private employer and second-largest overall, with an estimated 9,600 employees at the start of the year.
With a range of more than 100 miles, the Naval Strike Missile is capable of striking targets on land as well as sea with a combination of advanced guidance and homing technologies.
It is currently used by Norway, Poland and Malaysia, and the U.S. Navy is testing the Naval Strike Missile to add long-range offensive punch to its new littoral combat vessels.
Kongsberg has also developed a longer-range, multirole version called the Joint Strike Missile to fit internally on the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Kongsberg and Raytheon also are teaming up on further development of the Joint Strike Missile to compete for a U.S. Navy offensive anti-surface warfare program, to replace the aging Harpoon anti-ship missile.
In the 1990s, Raytheon and Kongsberg co-developed the Norwegian Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, a ground-based, medium-range air defense system that uses Raytheon’s Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile.
The system is used for air defense by Norway and a half-dozen other nations, including the U.S., which uses the system to guard Washington, D.C.
