Norway fires first ground-based Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile from NASAMS launcher

Test validates ESSM's role in medium-range, ground-based air defense

The Royal Norwegian Air Force successfully fired a Raytheon Company Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile from a National Advanced Surface-to-Air-Missile System (NASAMS). During the first-of-its-kind test at the Andoya Rocket Range in Northern Norway, the ESSM intercepted and destroyed an air target.

"Completion of this live-fire exercise is a major step forward in our efforts to qualify ESSM as a ground-based air defense solution," said Rick Nelson, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Naval Weapon Systems. "We will continue our engineering efforts to fully integrate ESSM into NASAMS and other land-based launch systems."

In addition to the launcher, the risk-reduction firing event used the NASAMS Fire Distribution Center (FDC) and the Hawk air defense system's High-Power Illuminator radar that served as the semi-active illumination source.

"Raytheon and our Norwegian partner KONGSBERG are expanding the flexibility and capability of our NASAMS, Hawk and Hawk XXI systems," said Tim Glaeser, vice president of Business Development and Strategy for Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "Our Hawk customers may have the option in the future to implement ESSM with modifications to the system. NASAMS system users will also benefit from having ESSM as an additional effector."

Joining AMRAAM and AIM-9X, ESSM is the third Raytheon missile to be successfully fired from the NASAMS launcher. ESSM adds another capability to Raytheon's growing portfolio of ground-based air defense solutions.

About NASAMS

Raytheon's NASAMS, in partnership with KONGSBERG, is a medium-range surface-to-air missile system. This operationally proven system provides the air defender with a tailorable, state-of-the-art system that can defeat current and evolving cruise missile threats and a wide range of air breathing threats.

About ESSM

With 18 industrial partners representing 10 nations, ESSM is the world's premier international cooperative missile production program. ESSM is a key component of Raytheon's portfolio of products that provide a global layered defense capability to meet the needs of diverse platforms, combat system design and theaters of operation.