Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace, Inc held a groundbreaking ceremony in Toano, James City County, Virginia, to celebrate the beginning of construction for its first US-based missile production facility. The chief of the Norwegian company, President Eirik Lie, joined James City County Board of Supervisors Chair Dr. John McGlennon, Virginia Secretary of Transportation Hon. Shep Miller, U.S. Representative Rob Wittman (VA-1) and Norwegian Ambassador to the United States Anniken Huitfeldt in breaking ground for the project, standing in front of a Navy and Marine Corps Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) crewless missile launcher vehicle, a key component of US Marines modernisation plans, which fires Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missile. Oshkosh representatives were also present, as the NMESIS’s vehicle base is their JLTV 4x4 vehicle.

The new factory will not only expand the production capacity for both the surface-launch Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and its F-35 weapon bay-optimised Joint Strike Missile air launched counterpart, but will ensure the US has domestic sustainment and tech-refresh capabilities for both systems.

The US Navy is buying hundreds of NMS both for the USMC’s NMESIS and for its own Over-the-Horizon Weapon System needs, which has seen Littoral Combat Ships and, increasingly, also DDG-51s fitted with NSM. The NSM is intended to be employed on the frigates, both the 2 CONSTELLATIONs in build and the new HII-designed frigate to follow after the cancellation of the CONSTELLATION project. The USAF also selected the JSM in 2024 for its F-35A and as of FY 2026 documentation it has upgraded its inventory objective upping it to 340. It has already ordered 144 between FY 24 and 25 and is to procure 112 more in FY 2026, using exclusively funding from the Reconciliation addition.

The USMC is procuring 32 NMESIS launchers in FY 2026, along with 36 encanistered NSM missiles and 76 missiles for load and re-load. The total munition requirement connected to the NMESIS missiles, as of FY 2026 documentation, is 774 NSMs. The US Navy plans to acquire 16 missiles of its own in FY 2026.

On the back of the 5-year multi-year procurement contract for NSM signed in 2024, Kongsberg announced this facility which is expected to create over 180 jobs in the area and inject over 100 million dollars in economic benefits.

The site is expected to start producing missiles in late 2027, ramping up to full rate production by the end of 2028.

Follow us on Telegram, Facebook and X.