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| US Government Approves Sales of Naval Strike Missiles to Latvia |
Washington - The US Department of State has approved a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) of the Naval Strike Missile Coastal Defense System (NSM CDS) and related equipment for an estimated cost of $110 million to the Government of Latvia. This was notified by the US Department of Defense (Pentagon) on 3 May 2023. This sale of NSM CDS will enhance Latvia's coastal defense capabilities to counter threats in the maritime domain of the Baltic Sea.
About NSM CDS is an anti-ship and land attack missile developed by Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace (KDA), a Norwegian company. Originally known as the Nytt Sjømål Missil (New Sea Target Missile), it was designed to replace the Penguin missile and was later marketed as the Naval Strike Missile (NSM).
In 2022, this missile has been selected by several foreign countries including the United States, Canada, Poland, Germany, Romania, Spain, Australia, Japan and Malaysia.
NSM weighs 400 kg complete with booster and 350 kg without booster. Length with booster 3.96 m and without booster 3.48 m. The missile uses a Microturbo TRI-40 turbojet propulsion system with solid rocket boosters. The standard NSM variant has an operational range of over 200 km and the NSM 1A variant has an operational range of 250 km.
The NSM CDS missile is capable of flying at sea level or sea skimming altitude, and has a maximum speed of Mach 0.93. The missile is equipped with a guidance system including GPS-aided INS (GAINS), laser altimeter and TERCOM. This NSM missile can be launched from surface warships or from the coast using a military truck base.