Norway’s Kongsberg has warned that the country needs a commitment from the US government within six months to integrate a national-specific missile on the Lockheed Martin F-35, or it could withdraw from the program.
So far, Norway has received no assurance that the Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile (JSM) will be integrated as part of the Block 4 software update on the F-35 in 2019.
The absence of such a commitment could prompt the Norwegian parliament to reject an expected request early next year from the nation’s defence ministry to buy the first four F-35s, in order to launch training activities in 2016.
Integrating the JSM as the Norwegian F-35’s primary surface-to-air missile system killer is considered an absolute requirement by Oslo, according to Kongsberg vice president Bjorn Bjune.
Norway has already invested $1 billion to adapt the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) into the air-launched JSM, and is planning to spend a further $200 million.
Norway wants the US Department of Defense to spend $20 million to integrate the JSM on the F-35 Block 4, with Norway to contribute an equal amount.
Tom Burbage, Lockheed’s executive vice president for the F-35, said that the JSM integration decision must be made by a committee of operational advisers to the F-35 joint program office.
But Bjune said that the committee’s decision-making process will be too slow to support the Norwegian parliament’s vote next year.
Kongsberg and the Norwegian government want the office of the US secretary of defence to commit to the JSM integration, ahead of the committee’s process.
If the missile is approved, Kongsberg plans to launch flight tests of the JSM in 2015 and 2016.
The air-launched Joint Strike Missile (JSM) variant is designed to be carried and launched internally from the F-35 Lightning II fighter’s internal bays (2 missiles), or external hardpoints.
The prospect of stealth-enhancing internal carriage, plus out of the gate integration with the F-35 Lightning II, could also give the JSM an entry hook for F-35 customers; Kongsberg adds that the adaptation study is being funded by Norway and Australia. Other potential JSF-linked buyers may include Denmark, The Netherlands, Turkey, and others. (Australia’s involvement with the JSM program, which has included support for JSM integration studies, is enabled by the existing MoU with Norway.)
Back in ADM’s September ‘09 issue Gregor Ferguson wrote that there were very few
dedicated anti-ship missiles under development at the time and the only one with the potential to be carried internally by the F-35A and C was JSM.
He said Defence acknowledged the JSM had the potential to provide a good solution for maritime and some land strike roles, enhancing strike range and weapon and aircraft survivability, but with JASSM already on order and other weapons such as JDAM-ER and SDB potentially available, it stopped short of an unqualified endorsement at this stage.
“Although the JSM has the potential to meet Defence’s standoff maritime strike capability for our future F-35 fleet, it remains one of a number of options for our future maritime strike requirements,” ADM was told.