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LONDON – Britain’s Royal Navy is to be equipped with new long-range precision strike missiles in a contract announced on November 22 with the Norwegian government.
Eleven frigates and destroyers are to be equipped with the Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace Built Naval Strike Missile.
The first three warships are being rapidly modified to accept the weapon, with the first ready for operations within 12 months, the UK Ministry of Defense said in a statement.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace announced the deal this week during a visit to Norway by the British aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth.
The surface-to-surface strike weapon is being brought into service in time to meet next year’s retirement of the Harpoon missile, originally built by McDonnell Douglas before the company was acquired by Boeing.
Harpoon was scheduled to retire from service in 2018 but the move was pushed back to 2023.
In November last year, the British scrapped plans to introduce an interim capability, which would have left the navy’s surface fleet without a strike missile for at least five years. That plan was officially abandoned earlier this year, with an interim surface-to-surface guided weapon program revived.
“This is an important task with an ambitious timeline,” said Norwegian Defense Minister Bjorn Arild Gram. “Both nations have established a designated team with a strong mandate to ensure the success of this common endeavour.”
Norwegian Arms, US purchased by many countries, including Harpoon, bridging the gap between Harpoon’s retirement from service and the introduction of a future offensive surface weapon.
The Naval Strike Missile will provide the Royal Navy with long-range strike capabilities against surface ships and land targets until the introduction of its permanent successor, the ‘Future Offensive Surface Weapon’, developed in a joint deal between the UK and France.
The Royal Navy’s next-generation anti-ship missile is scheduled to enter service onboard Type 26 anti-submarine warfare frigates in 2028, the first three of which are under construction by the BAE Systems shipyard on the Clyde, Scotland.
BAE, along with Britain’s other major warship build Babcock, supported by Kongsberg, will lead the effort to integrate the Norwegian missile into Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers.
Andrew Chuter is the United Kingdom correspondent for Defense News.
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