Kongsberg's Naval Strike Missile can hit ships and land based targets out to a range beyond 300 kilometres. (Kongsberg)
MELBOURNE — Norway’s decision last month to unilaterally scrap the sale of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) to Malaysia was regrettable and an example of a more powerful nation ignoring the rules it claimed to adhere to, Malaysian Defense Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin said.
“Norway’s action has created more than just a bilateral contract dispute. It raises a deeply troubling question about whether international agreement and strategic partnership can still be trusted at all,” Nordin said during a plenary session at the Shangri La Dialogue in Singapore.
Reports emerged in early May that Oslo was reneging on a defense exports approval for the NSM.
“Norwegian authorities have concluded to revoke certain export licenses related to specific technologies. This change is due to Norway’s stricter controls of certain technologies,” a spokesperson for Norway’s ministry of foreign affairs told Breaking Defense at the time.
