KONGSBERG, Norway — Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) has signed a contract valued at NOK 10 billion (~$950 million USD) for the delivery of the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) to Belgium. The procurement agreement was executed with the Dutch Ministry of Defence’s procurement agency, Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT), which acts as the lead contracting authority purchasing the ground-based air defense (GBAD) capability on behalf of the Belgian Air Force.
This joint procurement highlights growing Benelux defense integration and standardization across NATO’s European pillar. The Netherlands, an established NASAMS operator, leverages its existing procurement infrastructure through COMMIT to streamline acquisition, training, and logistical support for Belgium. The system will restore medium-range GBAD capability to the Belgian Armed Forces, providing a network-centric point and area air defense umbrella against high-density aerial threats, including low-radar-cross-section unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles, rotary-wing assets, and tactical fixed-wing combat aircraft.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS: KONGSBERG / RAYTHEON NASAMS GBAD SYSTEM
* System Classification: Network-Centric Short- to Medium-Range Ground-Based Air Defense (GBAD) System
* Industrial Consortium: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA, Norway) & Raytheon / RTX (United States)
* Procurement Structure & Value: NOK 10 Billion (~$950M USD) contract managed by Dutch COMMIT for the Belgian Air Force
* Battery Architecture & Command Infrastructure:
* Command & Control: Fire Distribution Center (FDC) with open-architecture BMC4I software
* Sensor Suite: Raytheon AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel 3D X-band phased-array radar + passive Electro-Optical / Infrared (EO/IR) sensor unit
* Launcher Unit: Multi-missile canisterized mobile launcher (6 ready-to-fire canisters per launch unit)
* Interceptor & Effector Compatibility:
* Baseline Interceptor: Raytheon AIM-120 AMRAAM (Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile)
* Extended Range Option: AMRAAM-ER (Extended Range; boost-glide envelope up to 50+ km)
* Short-Range Option: AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II (Infrared-homing short-range interceptor)
* Operational Engagement Envelope:
* Operational Range: ~30 km (AIM-120 C7/D) to >50 km (AMRAAM-ER)
* Interception Ceiling: Up to 15,000–20,000 meters (50,000+ feet)
* Engagement Capacity: Simultaneous multi-target tracking and multi-missile fire control
* Target Engagement Spectrum: Unmanned aerial systems (UAS), low-altitude cruise missiles, attack helicopters, and high-performance tactical fighter aircraft
