Germany’s parliament has approved a planned purchase of the Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Joint Strike Missile (JSM), with the precision-attack weapon to arm its future fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35As.

Cleared by the Bundestag on 4 June and announced the following day, the government-to-government deal will be worth around NKr6.5 billion ($645 million) to its Norwegian prime contractor, Kongsberg says.

“In the proposed procurement, Norway will purchase JSM from Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace on behalf of Germany,” the Norwegian defence ministry says. It has not disclosed the number of weapons expected to be included in the transaction.

Berlin is already a customer for the surface- and submarine-launched Naval Ship Missile from which the JSM weapon was derived. Its new order will be advanced by Oslo’s Defence Material Agency via the terms of their existing bilateral Naval Defence Material Cooperation agreement.

“An already close cooperation on missiles becomes even more important when both German and Norwegian F-35 fighters are to be equipped with the Joint Strike Missile,” says Norwegian defence minister Tore O Sandvik.

“We are pleased to welcome Germany as the fifth nation to select the JSM for its F-35 fleet,” says Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace president Eirik Lie. It follows Australia, Japan, Norway and the USA in ordering the weapon, which has an all-up weight of around 416kg (917lb).

“The JSM’s navigation system, flight profile and automatic target recognition technology make it a great match for the F-35,” he adds. To be carried internally by the fifth-generation fighter, the long-range weapon is optimised for use against strategic land and maritime targets.

“Negotiations are ongoing,” Kongsberg’s defence unit says. “The contract is expected to be signed by the end of the first half of 2025.”

The Royal Norwegian Air Force took delivery of its first JSM rounds in late-April, with the system undergoing final integration testing with the stealth fighter. The service also earlier this year received its last of 52 F-35As, with the type having replaced its Lockheed F-16s.

Germany is acquiring 35 examples of the F-35A, to replace a subset of its Panavia Tornado ground-attack fleet. Deliveries are due to commence to the Luftwaffe during 2027.