Under a new $47.6 million Other Transaction Authority (OTA), Raytheon [RTN] will integrate the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) into the Marine Corps force structure, the company said Monday.

The NSM was originally developed by Norway’s Kongsberg, which is working with Raytheon to produce and integrate the capability into U.S. assets.

A Navy test of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) on a Littoral Combat Ship. (Photo: US Navy)

Last month during a quarterly investment call, Raytheon chairman and CEO Tom Kennedy previewed that franchise programs like the NSM are finding new customers with the Marine Corps and international partners (Defense Daily, April 25).

The NSM is a long-range missile that can detect and destroy heavily defended sea and land targets

Last year, the Navy awarded Raytheon a $15 million contract to build and deliver the NSM as the Navy’s Over-The-Horizon (OTH) capability for Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) and future frigates (FFG(X)) (Defense Daily, May 31, 2018).

FY ’18 budget documents showed the Navy plans to buy up to 64 OTH missiles through FY ’23, with each missile costing about $2.2 million each (Defense Daily, Feb. 15, 2018).

Raytheon said in a statement that the Marine Corps’ selection of NSM “enhances joint interoperability and reduces costs and logistical burdens.”

“This fifth-generation missile adds another dimension for sea control operations and for protection from adversary warships,” Kim Ernzen, vice president of Raytheon air warfare systems, added in a statement.

Raytheon noted a mobile land-based NSM is currently deployed with Poland’s coastal defense force.

Kongsberg was also pleased to see another user for its weapon.

“We are very pleased to expand the user community. The NSM is now selected by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps, Norwegian, Polish and Malaysian Navies from both ships and land based coastal defence,” Eirik Lie, president of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS, said in a statement.

The company did not disclose what platform the Marine Corps would use the NSM on. However, Raytheon and Kongsberg are developing a missile based on the NSM, the Joint Strike Missile, that is planned to be used with U.S. F-35s (Defense Daily, July 16, 2018).

In recent years, the Marine Corps has also tested launching rockets from a High Mobility Rocket Artillery System (HIMARS) on the deck of the San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock USS Anchorage (LPD-23). This demonstrated the service’s ability to launch a traditional ground-based capability from the sea (Defense Daily, Oct. 25, 2017).