Buoyed by a recent first contract to supply Joint Strike Missiles (JSMs) to the US Air Force (USAF), Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace is to build a new production facility in James City County, Virginia.
Announcing the step on 17 September, the Norwegian company says its new US site will “provide additional production capacity, sustainment and in-country tech-refresh capabilities” for the JSM and ship-launched Naval Strike Missile (NSM).
Kongsberg was awarded a $141 million contract by the USAF in late May for Lot 1 production of the JSM weapon, which will be deployed by its Lockheed Martin F-35A stealth fighters. Shipments of an undisclosed number of missiles will commence in 2026, with work under the deal due to conclude by August of the same year.
“The decision to locate this [production] facility in the US was heavily influenced by the possibility that the Department of Defense could award a multi-year procurement contract,” says Kongsberg. The US Navy and US Marine Corps are also already customers for the NSM anti-ship weapon.
The European company in August announced that it will establish a further new production facility for the JSM/NSM in Australia, while it is also expanding its capacity in Norway.
“The new missile production facilities in the US, Australia and Norway address the strong and long-term demand for our unique technology and the critical need to strengthen collective defence capabilities,” says Kongsberg chief executive Geir Haoy. The roughly 416kg (917lb) JSM is the only store of its kind that can be carried within the F-35A’s internal weapons bays.
The company – which already has a remote-weapon-system production site in Johnstown, Pennsylvania – will invest more than $100 million in its new Virginia facility, across “property, plant and equipment”, says Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace Inc president Heather Armentrout. This will include recruiting more 180 new employees, she adds.
Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin says the new facility will cover 13,940sq m (150,000sq ft).
