Ukraine’s future air defense system, National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems (NASAMS), are now being manufactured in the United States.
US Defense giant Raytheon is expected to deliver them sometime in 2025. The value of the order is around $1.216 billion.
This information was made public by the US Department of Defense on its website. The contract amount includes maintenance and spare parts.
The NASAMS are being made at Raytheon’s manufacturing facility in Tewksbury, Massachusetts.
On October 10, a preliminary information about the deal was made public, after it known that such a deal had indeed been discussed between US President Joe Biden and his Ukrainian counterpart President Volodymyr Zelensky. At that time, while the final date of delivery was unknown, there is more clarity on the matter now with the DoD confirming on November 30th, November 28, 2025 is the deadline for delivery.
Ukraine is already in possession of NASAMS. They have been deployed in regions close to Kyiv and serves as an “air defense umbrella” over the capital city.
Earlier on November 17, Lloyd Austin, the Secretary of Defense of the United States, had revealed that Ukraine had received a second NASAMS air defense system.
The official announcement was made by Mr. Lloyd Austin, Secretary of Defense of the United States. According to him, the two anti-aircraft missile systems are operationally ready. Mr. Austin even declared that they are completely efficient in Ukraine. However, in light of Russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, including the capital city of Kyiv, his claim remains highly contentious.
About NASAMS
NASAMS is Norway’s national air defense system. Designed to combat drones, helicopters and fighter planes, it has a medium range. It has successfully resisted, intercepted, and destroyed Russian cruise missiles.
Currently, they have been deployed in 9 countries; five more countries are in the process of acquiring it. Depending on which missile is used, NASAMS has an average range of 25 to 30 kilometers and have a maximum altitude of 21 kilometers.
NASAMS can be integrated into vehicles, making the ground-based missile defense system very mobile; it is capable of traversing difficult terrain. While it is commonly seen on 66 chassis vehicles, with a quick modification, it can be easily integrated into 44 chassis vehicles.
The NASAMS I employs the US-built MPQ-64 Sentinel air defense X band 3D radar; the NASAMS II includes a significant upgrade to the radar system, which according to experts is much better than its predecessor.
It should be noted that NASAMS has secondary armaments to protect the crew of the system in close combat. Secondary integrated weapons include the RBS 70 laser beam assisted MANPADS system and the Bofors 40mm L70 gun, controlled by the Oerlikon Contraves FCS2000 mono-pulse doppler tracking radar.
