MILAN — The Norwegian Ministry of Defense will co-develop a new radar in partnership with Raytheon and Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace to boost the capabilities of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) against high-value targets.
The next-generation sensor will be based on the existing Raytheon GhostEye family of radars, with one of the key upgrades focused on increased range, according to company representatives.
“We can’t provide performance specifics, but the radar’s capabilities will far exceed NASAMS’ current sensor configuration – this is largely driven by the active electronically scanned array and gallium nitride (GaN) technology featured in the GhostEye family of radars,” Mike Mills, executive director of GhostEye programs at Raytheon told Defense News.
The GhostEye is a medium-range air and missile defense radar that was first showcased by the company in 2021, designed to detect and identify a wide-range of threats including cruise missiles, drones and rotary-wing aircraft.
While the radar’s range information is not available on the manufacturer’s website, observers have estimated that it may be able to observe targets as far as 120 kilometers away.
This will be the first project developed under the NASAMS Capabilities Collaborative Agreement, which was signed in 2023 by the Norwegian MoD, Kongsberg and Raytheon.
The production of the radars’ components will be carried out in both Norway and the United States, Mills said, declining to say when deliveries would begin, as discussions about that aspect of the systems’ development are still ongoing.
In June, Norway signed a $440 million contract with Kongsberg to acquire new NASAMS air defense systems with expected deliveries from 2027 to replace equipment previously donated to Ukraine.
The Nordic nation initially sent two batteries of the air defense systems to Kyiv in March of 2023, followed by additional shipments in December, and plans to order more for the war-torn country.
“Norway has decided to build their future Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) with the NASAMS architecture as the backbone,” Hans Christian Hagen, vice president for business development of air and coastal defense at Kongsberg said in an email statement to Defense News.
“The development of the next-gen radar is a natural step for Norway as the lead nation and will address requirements to meet the mobility aspects for a flexible and agile system,” the company executive added.
NASAMS are in operation in 13 countries, as they are able to use a wide variety of air-to-air missiles, including the AMRAAM, which a considerable number of NATO countries already possess.
Elisabeth Gosselin-Malo is a Europe correspondent for Defense News. She covers a wide range of topics related to military procurement and international security, and specializes in reporting on the aviation sector. She is based in Milan, Italy.
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