The NSM missile is coming to Dutch warships. But manufacturer Kongsberg is now showing another way to carry it: inside a shipping container. The roof opens, the launcher rises and the missile can be fired. Afterwards, the unit can be picked up and moved.
That makes the new NSM Mission Module interesting. It uses a standard twenty-foot container, roughly six metres long, with room for up to four missiles. Close the roof and the launch tubes disappear from view.
A launcher you can set down and take away
Existing trucks, ships and cranes can handle transport. Kongsberg envisages launches from a ship, a truck or the ground. The missiles do not have to stay attached to one permanent platform.
The unit can move when requirements change. That could be useful for countries with long coastlines. Bringing military capability along becomes a matter of transporting a module, rather than adapting a dedicated vehicle or ship each time.
A container on the outside
The closed exterior also makes its contents less immediately obvious. Kongsberg describes discreet pre-positioning. An opponent may find it harder to recognise a missile launcher straight away; that does not make the installation invisible.
The idea is taking shape elsewhere too. The US Navy trained with Denmark in 2024 using a containerised launcher on Bornholm. Lockheed Martin builds the Mk 70 around a larger container with four launch cells. It is a different system, but the same broad idea: weapons that are easier to move.
An option for the Netherlands too?
The Netherlands selected NSM to replace Harpoon on its air-defence and command frigates. The new anti-submarine warfare frigates will also carry it, according to the explanation sent to the Dutch parliament.
That existing choice makes the container version an interesting possibility for later. No Dutch order for this module has been announced. The missile is already on its way; the question is whether the defence ministry will also want the flexibility of a movable launcher.
Kongsberg tested the concept in Norway this autumn using a test version of the missile. The work covered handling, loading, and the pressure and exhaust gases during launch. The new packaging also has to withstand a missile launch.
