Raytheon and Kongsberg to fire first land based ESSM

The first land-based firing of an Evolved Sea Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) will take place in Norway in early May, Rick Nelson, Raytheon’s vice-president of Naval Weapon Systems, told ADM on February 1.

Nelson said the scheduled launch was part of a Raytheon strategy to adapt its sea-based anti-air systems to land basing to fill a market gap left by the eventual decommissioning of Hawk, Skyguard and the Soviet SA-6 Gainful air defence systems.

The May ESSM launch at a test range in northern Norway would be carried out in conjunction with Kongsberg, with whom Raytheon was in discussion on a possible long-term business relationship in the anti-air sector, Nelson said.

Read more