Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace is building a new missile production facility in the US to cater to rising global demand amid conflicts in Eastern Europe and West Asia.
The state-of-the-art facility in James City County, Virginia, will enhance the Norwegian firm’s production capability for Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) and Joint Strike Missiles (JSM).
More importantly, it will bring the capability to the US, including sustainment and tech refresh capabilities for the missiles.
“Kongsberg is investing in a big way in the US market by making Virginia the US home of our new missile factory, which will entail hiring more than 180 people,” president and general manager of Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace Heather Armentrout said.
“We will also be investing more than $100 million into the Commonwealth of Virginia over the next few years, in terms of property, plant and equipment.
“This is in addition to expansion at our core US production facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.”
Missile Production Expansion
This is the third missile facility Kongsberg announced in the last few months, including in Norway and Australia.
The decision is also in anticipation of a multiyear procurement contract by the US Department of Defense.
The NSM is an anti-ship missile operational with five navies, including the US Navy.
The JSM is an air-launched cruise missile designed to fit into the F-35’s internal bay and perform complex missions such as anti-surface warfare and land attack.
“The US Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force are important customers for Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile and Joint Strike Missile. Their demand signals gave us the predictability we needed to make this investment in the United States,” president of Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Eirik Lie said.
“This will allow us to better serve our allies in the US and continue to expand that supply chain locally, building capacity and redundancy for these critical capabilities.”
Virginia Facility
The 150,000-square-foot (13,935 square meters) facility will be equipped to assemble, upgrade, and repair both the missiles.
The company expected to invest $71 million in the facility and an additional $30 million on engineering and software, Virginia Business stated, citing the office of the governor of Virginia.