Sailors Showed Zelenskyy an NSM Missile System Previously Undisclosed

Ukraine has fielded the NSM (Naval Strike Missile) mobile coastal defense system, developed and manufactured by the Norwegian company Kongsberg.

Photos of the launcher were released by the Office of the President of Ukraine during President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s working visit to the Odesa region.

The coastal version of the NSM system is also operated by Poland and the United States, while Latvia, Bulgaria, Denmark, and Romania have placed orders for it.

Until now, there had been no official announcement that the Ukrainian Navy would receive the Naval Strike Missile coastal defense system.

In May 2022, Reuters, citing U.S. government sources, reported that the United States was considering supplying Ukraine with either Harpoon or NSM anti-ship missiles.

In June 2023, the Polish defense outlet Defence24 reported, citing its own sources, that Ukraine was negotiating with Poland to purchase components of the NSM coastal missile system.

However, the launcher shown in the newly released photos has a solid-color paint scheme rather than the camouflage pattern used on Polish military vehicles.

Unlike the Polish version, which is mounted on a Jelcz chassis, the Ukrainian launcher appears to use a truck equipped with a multilift hook-lift system.

Naval Strike Missile (NSM)

The Naval Strike Missile is a subsonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

It is capable of engaging both naval and land targets. The missile is approximately 4 meters long, weighs more than 400 kg, and carries a 120 kg penetrating high-explosive warhead.

During the midcourse phase, the missile is guided by an inertial navigation system with GPS updates.

In the terminal phase, it uses an imaging infrared (IIR) seeker with an onboard target-recognition database containing thermal signatures. This enables the missile to identify specific target types and autonomously select the intended target.