Germany and Norway are continuing to expand their relations: After Norway replaced Russia as a gas supplier for the Federal Republic as a result of the Ukraine war, both countries also want to cooperate more closely in the defense sector. Latest project: a new “super rocket”.
Norway wants to start developing a new generation of missiles, Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram announced on Friday. “We must start today to develop the weapons that will protect us from the threats of tomorrow.” The new missile will strengthen the Scandinavian country’s defense capability and ability to engage targets at long range. The weapon should be ready for use in 2035.
According to the Norwegian government, the partner in the armaments project is Germany. The rocket will be used on Norwegian and German naval ships, among others. “Germany is our most important European partner in defense cooperation and a large and important ally in NATO,” said Gram.
The planned missile is a further development of a so-called Naval Strike Missile (NSM) from the Norwegian arms company Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace. Kongsberg will also be leading the construction of the new anti-ship missile with the somewhat unwieldy name SuperSonic Strike Missile (3SM) Tyrfing.
According to Kongsberg, the current NSMs were developed in the early 2000s and selected by 13 countries. According to Defense Minister Gram, the project will help “further develop this strategically important technological know-how so that we can continue to develop missiles that are attractive to other NATO states and close allies.”
The Norwegian government is now proposing to make a “decision on starting the first preliminary design phase of the project,” according to the Defense Ministry in Oslo. The ministry also announced that Germany would like to examine such a decision next year. After completing the design phase, the government will submit a recommendation to the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, to continue the project.
The SuperSonic Strike Missile (3SM) Tyrfing is not the only armament project of the two countries. In September, the starting signal was given in Kiel for the construction of a new submarine as part of the German-Norwegian arms cooperation. The Federal Ministry of Defense announced at the time that cooperation would also be carried out on maintenance, repairs and training. Norway has also ordered German Leopard 2 main battle tanks.
The basis for the cooperation between Germany and Norway, a country with a population of five million, is the “Declaration of Intent (DoI) on the further Enhancement of Politico-Military and Military Relations” from 2011. Both states want to further expand their relations overall intensify. In addition to defense, also in the areas of economy and climate. At the beginning of November, a Norwegian delegation of politicians and business representatives, accompanied by Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, visited Germany for several days to underline this.
Sources: Government of Norway, Kongsberg, Federal Ministry of Defense
