WASHINGTON — Approximately $3 billion will be spent by Kuwait to acquire the national Advanced Surface-To-Air Missile System [NASAMS]. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency [DSCA] announced the Middle Eastern country’s intentions by notifying the US Congress of the potential sale.
- Air defense umbrella over Kyiv – a medium-range NASAMS was deployed
- Spain has deployed a short- to medium-range NASAMS in Latvia
- Raytheon’s HELWS laser anti-drone system tested on NASAMS
In addition to NASAMS, Kuwait will receive dozens of missiles of various types. These are the AIM-120C-8 [AMRAAM], AMRAAM-Extended Range [AMRAAM-ER], AIM-120-C-8 AMRAAM, and the AIM-9X Sidewinder Block II. The Kuwaiti order includes the complete package – radars, missiles, cryptographic modules, information dissemination terminals, control centers, simulators, radar units, etc. The US will provide full logistical and technological support to Kuwait.
As of October 6, the US Congress has a period of 30 days in which to review the order of Kuwait. There is a possibility that the price will not be 3 billion USD, but will undergo a correction. This depends on Raytheon, which together with Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace [KDA] are the manufacturers of the system.
NASAMS operators
In recent years, NASAMS has started to attract more and more interest from customers. Hungary, Qatar, and Taiwan have already placed their orders for NASAMS. There is interest from India, Estonia, and Latvia. Currently, in addition to the United States and Norway, eight other countries around the world are using the capabilities of NASAMS.
As BulgarianMilitary.com wrote, Ukraine also became a client of the American-Norwegian air defense system. The US pledged NASAMS to ensure the security of Ukraine’s skies from Russian warplanes. At the end of September, the first battery arrived and was deployed around Kyiv.
NASAMS in brief
This system is Norway’s national air defense system. Its range is medium and is designed to counter drones, helicopters, and all types of fighter jets. NASAMS successfully resisted, intercepted, and destroyed cruise missiles.
Currently, nine countries are operating this anti-aircraft missile system and five more are in line waiting for a response to its acquisition. NASAMS has an average range: of between 25 and 30 km, depending on the missile used. The maximum altitude at which the rocket flies is 21 km.
The system can be integrated into vehicles and thus from a ground-based to become a mobile system for difficult terrain. NASAMS can often be seen on a 6×6 chassis, but its practicality is that after a quick modification it can be easily integrated into vehicles with a 4×4 chassis.
NASAMS I of the system works with US-built MPQ-64 Sentinel air defense X band 3D radar, but NASAMS II in addition to having Link 16 has a significant update of the radar system, as experts say that it is better than version 1 It should be noted that NASAMS has secondary armaments that serve the crew of the system to provide protection in close combat. Secondary integrated weapons are the RBS 70 laser beam assisted MANPADS system, and the Bofors 40mm L70 gun [controlled by the Oerlikon Contraves FCS2000 mono-pulse doppler tracking radar].
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