Putting the Naval Strike Missile in a Box

Kongsberg has shown that its Naval Strike Missile (NSM) can be fired from a standard 20-foot shipping container. According to Infodefensa, which reported the test on October 17, 2026, the Norwegian company ran the trial in early October at an unnamed test range. It used a four-missile launcher housed inside a container whose roof had been modified to open, so the missiles could be fired directly from within.

The test was disclosed to Janes by Ståle Mortensson, vice president for business development strategy in Kongsberg’s missile division, at the Land Forces 2026 exhibition in Perth. He described the goal as fielding the weapon covertly in support of expeditionary operations and for land-attack missions, with the container also able to be mounted on vehicles (Infodefensa).

For Spain, the point is practical. Infodefensa notes that the stern deck of the Navy’s Buques de Acción Marítima (BAM) offshore patrol vessels has room for up to three containers of the size tested. The planned configuration for the two new, more heavily armed BAMs adds short-range air defense missiles and counter-drone systems but leaves out the NSM. A containerized launcher makes adding an anti-ship missile to those ships look more realistic (Infodefensa).

Spain is already committed to the missile. It chose the NSM to replace the Harpoon on its F-100 and F-110 frigates and has invested €305 million in a program, run through the NATO Support and Procurement Agency, that covers 120 Block 1A missiles, with first deliveries in 2027. Studies are also under way to integrate the missile on the S-80 submarine and on anti-submarine helicopters. The launchers for Spain’s frigates are being built in Australia, as part of a wider Kongsberg export effort that also covers Poland and Denmark (Infodefensa).

The broader significance lies in separating the weapon from the platform. When a long-range strike missile can ride in a standard container, the question is no longer whether a ship was designed to carry it, but whether the ship has deck space and the targeting data to use it. Patrol vessels, auxiliaries, ground vehicles and shore sites all become possible launch points, which complicates an adversary’s targeting and extends distributed lethality to platforms that were never built as warships.

The constraint is the same one that applies to every modular-payload concept. A container-launched missile is only as effective as the sensors, networks and fire-control chain that cue it. The box makes the missile easy to deploy. The kill web is what makes it effective.

Source: Ginés Soriano, “Kongsberg ensaya el disparo desde un contenedor del misil naval NSM adquirido por España y que podrían incorporar los BAM,” Infodefensa, October 17, 2026.