Norway Will Finance Development of Ukrainian Missiles for NASAMS

The Government of Norway, in partnership with Kongsberg Gruppen and Ukraine, will co-finance and jointly develop missiles for the NASAMS air defense system.

Ukraine’s Minister of Defence, Rustem Umierov, announced the launch of this cooperation, along with the opening of a Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace office in Ukraine.

A key milestone in this partnership will be the implementation of new projects focused on strengthening Ukraine’s air defense capabilities and fostering joint initiatives in the defense industry.

As the Minister noted, Ukraine, together with the Norwegian company, was preparing new solutions based on the NASAMS air defense system to more effectively protect civilians and critical infrastructure from Russian missile attacks.

Meanwhile, the opening of the company’s office will enable much closer cooperation with Ukrainian enterprises involved in developing domestically produced missile systems for the NASAMS air defense system.

“Opening of the office is another step forward in strengthening the partnership between Ukraine, Norway, and Kongsberg. Together, we will implement projects focused on interceptor production, enhancing air defense, and maritime protection — areas in which Kongsberg is a global leader,” wrote Rustem Umierov, Ukraine’s Minister of Defence.

Integration of Ukrainian missiles into the Norwegian missile system was confirmed back in February 2025, when Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, stated in an interview with Euractiv that the company was establishing a joint venture in Ukraine to expand missile production for NASAMS using Ukrainian technology.

At that time, it was noted that the project involved serial production; however, the type or model of the missiles was not disclosed.

Integration of Ukrainian missiles into the Norwegian NASAMS air defense system is one of the key priorities for strengthening effective air defense.

As of June 2025, missiles for the NASAMS system — specifically the AIM-9X and AIM-120 variants C-7/8 and D-3 — are manufactured exclusively in the United States.

In the event of deteriorating relations, the supply of these types of missiles could be halted, while deliveries from European operators could either slow down or potentially be restricted altogether.

Meanwhile, the use of a Ukrainian-produced missile enables greater independence in the supply of munitions to the armed forces, even if its performance may be inferior to that of its American counterparts.

Militarnyi previously reported that Ukraine’s defense industry has a number of anti-aircraft interceptor designs in its arsenal, ranging from Coral to R-27 or promising UP-277. However, Coral is longer than the NASAMS launch container, and to integrate different versions of R-27, the rudders will have to be shortened.

The emergence of a completely new, previously unknown anti-aircraft missile cannot be ruled out, and work on it could have been initiated after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion. It could be a radar-guided interceptor or a short-range system with an infrared homing head.