The Royal Navy is expected to bring the Norwegian-designed Naval Strike Missile into service later this year, according to the Ministry of Defence.
In a written answer to Conservative MP Ben Obese-Jecty, defence minister Luke Pollard confirmed that the Naval Strike Missile has been acquired for the Royal Navy’s escort fleet under the Lunna House Agreement. He said the weapon “replaces the Harpoon anti-ship missile, which went out of service in December 2023” and described the new missile as “20 years newer, has greater range, and is far more capable than the system it replaces”.
Pollard noted that the Royal Navy completed its first successful live firing of the missile in September 2025, when Type 23 frigate HMS Somerset launched an NSM during Exercise Aegir off northern Norway. He added that “test firings are now complete and the NSM is expected to enter service later this year”.
The September firing marked the first time a British warship had launched the Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace-designed missile. Conducted at the Andøya range alongside Norwegian and Polish forces, the trial formed part of wider NATO cooperation in the High North. The Ministry of Defence said at the time that the event demonstrated growing interoperability between the UK and Norway in maritime strike capability.
The Naval Strike Missile is a sea-skimming cruise missile designed for both anti-ship and land-attack roles. According to the manufacturer, it has an operational range of more than 200 kilometres, with later variants exceeding 300 kilometres, and uses a combination of inertial navigation, GPS, terrain contour matching and an imaging infrared seeker for terminal guidance. The missile carries a 120 kilogram blast and fragmentation warhead and flies at speeds approaching Mach 0.9.
The UK plans to equip a total of 11 surface combatants with the missile, drawn from the Type 23 frigate and Type 45 destroyer classes. The introduction of NSM follows the retirement of Harpoon, which had provided the Royal Navy’s primary surface-launched anti-ship capability for decades.
In a separate written answer last November, Pollard described the missile as part of a broader effort to enhance fleet lethality. He said the Navy was “undertaking a significant programme to modernise and increase the lethality of the Fleet”, adding that “the introduction of Sea Venom and the Naval Strike Missile are key aspects of this programme”. At the time, he also described NSM as “one of the most advanced missiles in our naval arsenal”.