The Ministry of Defense of Poland intends to strengthen its coastal defense and has announced its intention to purchase additional Naval Strike Missile systems from Kongsberg. This move represents a logical extension of their ongoing efforts to increase their naval fleet, with previous acquisitions dating back to 2012 and 2014.
According to Defense24, Ministry of Defense of Poland is now considering the establishment of two new coastal missile units. This comes in the wake of unofficial reports in April of this year suggesting that Warsaw was also contemplating the acquisition of yet another missile division. This indicates a minimum doubling of their previous plans and, ultimately, a substantial enhancement of Poland’s anti-ship capabilities.
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In general, it is currently entirely possible to regard NSM as the most cutting-edge anti-ship missile globally. This has even led the United States to initiate its deployment on their ships, replacing their own Harpoon missiles.
This missile is constructed using stealth technology, has relatively compact dimensions and weighs 350 kg (with an additional 50 kg for the launch booster), with the warhead weighing 120 kg. The missile has a flight range of approximately 200-250 km.
The targeting of this missile is facilitated by a thermal imaging homing head, which provides another unique feature of this missile – the capability for completely stealthy strikes. Unlike traditional radar-guided homing heads, the thermal imaging homing head is a passive sensor.
Furthermore, this homing head has also provided another advantage for NSM – the capacity to engage ground targets. At a minimum, this capability has been confirmed for its aviation variant, the Joint Strike Missile.
Therefore, it is evident that Poland is not only gaining the capability to independently secure its coastline but also to effectively control the Baltic Sea, given the relatively short distance of about 180 km between the Polish and Swedish shores. Additionally, Poland will also possess a land-based cruise missile for targeting particularly significant objectives.
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