Raytheon [RTN] and Norway’s Kongsberg Gruppen are offering their Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the U.S. Navy’s Littoral Combat Ship (LCS) and future frigates over-the-horizon (OTH) missile requirement, the companies confirmed last Wednesday.

The team confirmed their offer will meet today’s proposal deadline.

The Navy's test of the NSM on a Littoral Combat Ship last year. Photo: US Navy
The Navy’s test of the NSM on a Littoral Combat Ship last year. Photo: US Navy

The companies first announced they would work together to offer the NSM in 2015 in a teaming agreement (Defense Daily, April 8, 2015).

The Navy is holding a competition for a long-range anti-ship missile to counter threats that will require the LCS and Future Frigate (FF) greater stand-off distances to stay out of harm’s way.

Norway has operated the NSM since 2012 and the companies announced last July that they were finalizing plans to build and test the missile in the United States.

“NSM is the only missile of its class that is ready today to add critical, long-range firepower to naval ships. NSM is proven technology that will create new jobs in America and save the United States billions of dollars in development costs,” Mike Jarrett, Raytheon vice president of Air Warfare Systems, said in a statement.

Under the offering, Raytheon plans to produce the NSM launchers. missiles, and components in the U.S. Work will start in Louisville, Ky,. And Tuscon, Ariz., the company said.

“NSM is the main weapon for Norway’s new frigates and coastal corvettes, and gives today’s ships the firepower they need to defeat evolving threats. The missile will help fulfill the U.S. Navy’s vision of ensuring freedom of access to seas around the world,” Pål Bratlie, Kongsberg executive vice president, added.

The Navy is expected to award an OTH contract as early as November.

LCS variants are built by Lockheed Martin [LMT] as the Freedom-class and Austal USA as the Independence-class.

Other major competitors Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] last month said they withdrew from the competition. Both companies said while they were comfortable with the initial request for proposals, as it was refined it changed top level-requirements that undervalued their bids.

Boeing had intended to offer its Harpoon Block II Plus Extended Range, an upgrade from the Harpoon Block IC anti-ship missile the Navy currently fields on aircraft and ships. Lockheed Martin was going to offer the surface-launched variant of its Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). The air-launched LRASM variant is already being integrated on the Navy’s F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and Air Force B-1B bomber.