The Royal Netherlands Navy has decided to replace the ageing Harpoon anti-ship missile on its Zeven Provinciën-class air defense frigates with the Naval Strike Missile.
According to the Dutch defense ministry, Norwegian missile developer Kongsberg is expected to deliver the new missiles from 2025.
The agreement for the purchase was signed on Monday, less than a month after the UK Royal Navy announced its decision to replace the Harpoon with the NSM.
Earlier this year, the same missile was also chosen by Spain for the same role of replacing the Harpoons.
NSM has several advantages over the Harpoon, with a much longer range and improved precision. The missile uses an advanced infrared seeker and also features stealth properties for better survivability.
Kongsberg also touts the missile’s survivability thanks to passive sensors, low sea skimming altitude, terrain following flight, high agility with selectable end-game flight profiles and precise designated time-on-target.
In addition to this year’s new customers, the missile is in service with NATO partners Canada, Germany, Norway, Poland and the United States.
