The Royal Navy is rapidly replacing the US-origin, combat-proven Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles from its Type 23 warships with the newly contracted ‘Naval Strike Missile’ (NSM), which promises longer range, more lethality, and better precision.
Royal Navy’s Type 23 Frigate HMS Portland has become the latest vessel equipped with the anti-ship and land-attack NSM.
The development follows weeks of updates from Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) and ship tracking accounts on social media saying that HMS Portland was conducting NSM sea trials.
“HMSPortland successfully embarked 8 Naval Strike Missiles, restoring our Anti-Surface capability. This is a big step forward in ensuring we are Global, Modern, and Ready and further strengthens partnerships with our NATO allies @KOGDefence #RoyalNavy #WeAreNATO,” the official X (formerly Twitter) account of HMS Portland announced in a post on December 12. The photos of the vessel outfitted with the missile were also published on social media.
The United Kingdom announced in 2022 that a total of eleven Type 23 frigates and Type 45 destroyers would be equipped with the NSM, effectively replacing the archaic Harpoon.
In December 2023, the HMS Somerset became the first vessel to be outfitted with the Naval Strike Missile, following which the Royal Navy declared an initial operating capability (IOC) with the new missile. However, reports indicate that a live firing of the weapon has not taken place from HMS Somerset due to some recurrent mechanical issues associated with the vessel.
Ahead of HMS Portland showing off the missile, manufacturer Kongsberg said in a press release last month: “The collaboration will result in more ships equipped with the highly sophisticated Naval Strike Missiles, which in turn will contribute to enhancing the security in our common areas of interest. Replacing the Harpoon surface-to-surface weapon, due to go out of service in 2023, the world-class anti-ship missile will be ready for operations onboard the first Royal Navy vessel in a little over 12 months.”
This, however, spells the end for the Harpoon, outfitted on all Type 23 warships ever since they were commissioned into service in the 1990s. The Royal Navy uses the upgraded RGM-84D Block 1C Harpoon anti-ship cruise missiles, but they are not stealthy like the NSM and have a far-shorter range compared to the NSM, which is replacing them. In fact, previous reports noted that the UK had transferred an unknown number of Harpoon missiles to Ukraine.
The Royal Navy started contemplating the replacement of Harpoon, whose development dates back to the 1980s, as far back as 2019. This was followed by the start of an Interim Surface-to-Surface Guided Weapon (ISSG-W) program meant to replace the Harpoon.
However, by 2021, it appeared the ISSG-W was discontinued or suspended because there was no development on it.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the ISSG-W program was restarted due to the enhanced security threat posed by Moscow. By November 2022, the NSM had been formally chosen as the next anti-ship cruise missile for the Royal Navy.
With this acquisition, the UK joined Norway, Poland, Malaysia, Germany, the US, Japan, Romania, Canada, Australia, and Spain in deploying the missile.
The NSM has consistently been in the news for its soaring popularity among countries seeking a lethal anti-ship weapon amid rising challenges from adversaries like Russia and China. For instance, the UK’s AUKUS ally, Australia, signed a contract for the missile in 2023 to replace its Harpoons with NSM and conducted its first live-fire test earlier this year.
Moreover, an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer of the US Navy fired the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) during the Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) military drills held off the coast of Hawaii–demonstrating the cutting-edge capabilities of the Naval Strike Missile.
Naval Strike Missile
The Naval Strike Missile is a stealthy, precision, long-range strike weapon that can hit targets more than 100 nautical miles or over 185 kilometers away. The NSM can hit both land-based and sea targets.
Whether on land or at sea, the NSM’s Autonomous Target Recognition (ATR) allows the missile to locate and strike the pre-designated target precisely. The weapon has an internal database of representative ship types to differentiate between the intended target and other objects automatically. It is highly precise as a result, and its susceptibility to electronic warfare strategies and countermeasures is greatly diminished.
The NSM has very good maneuverability due to its high thrust-to-weight ratio and airframe design. The missile is entirely passive, has demonstrated exceptional sea-skimming qualities, and is expected to penetrate the enemy’s air defenses easily, thanks to its sophisticated terminal maneuvers. The NSM provides the ship with the over-the-horizon attack option, allowing the crew to track and eliminate incoming anti-ship missiles from a safer range.
The passive nature of the seeker makes it immune to radio-frequency electronic warfare jamming. Furthermore, the NSM performs unpredictable movements throughout its terminal phase of flight, complicating interception efforts.
The NSM was designed with a reduced radar signature to attack close to the surface in sea-skimming mode, essentially below the aperture of many ship-based radars. The missile is propelled to its target at high subsonic speed by a turbojet sustainer engine after being launched into the air by a solid rocket booster that is jettisoned upon burning out. This allows the multipurpose blast/fragmentation warhead to do its job, which in the case of a ship target means impacting the ship at or near the water line.
Even though it has a smaller warhead than the Harpoon, the NSM would represent a huge leap in capability.
Moreover, the integration of this missile would enhance integration with other NATO allies. The UK MoD earlier said, “NSM will enhance collaboration and interoperability with several of our key strategic partners. In the North Atlantic and Baltic Sea Region users, and soon-to-be users, include Norway, the US, Poland, Germany, and Canada. Both the US and Australia will operate NSM in the Pacific region.”
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