Berlin is arming its F-35s with Scandinavian precision. On May 18, 2026, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace announced a contract worth approximately NOK 3.5 billion — some $380 million — for a second tranche of Joint Strike Missiles destined for Germany’s future Lightning II fleet. It is a deal that says as much about the new architecture of European defence as it does about the missile itself.
This is not Germany’s first JSM order. In July 2025, Berlin signed an initial contract valued at roughly NOK 6.5 billion, making Germany the fifth nation — after Norway, Japan, Australia, and the United States — to select Kongsberg’s stealthy, long-range cruise missile for the F-35. The latest deal doubles down on that commitment and locks in deliveries before the end of 2027, when Germany’s Lightnings are expected to reach operational status at Büchel Air Base.
💰 Contract value: NOK 3.5 billion (~$380 million)
📅 Announced: May 18, 2026
🎯 Missile: Kongsberg Joint Strike Missile (JSM)
✈ Platform: F-35A Lightning II (German Luftwaffe)
📊 Previous order: NOK 6.5 billion (July 2025, initial tranche)
🌎 JSM operators: Norway, Japan, Australia, United States, Germany
🚚 First delivery: Before end of 2027
🤝 Framework: Hansa Agreement (Norway-Germany defence cooperation)
A Norwegian Missile for a German Problem
Germany ordered 35 F-35As in 2022 as part of the massive Zeitenwende defence spending package triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Pilot training is already underway at Ebbing Air National Guard Base in Fort Smith, Arkansas, with the first aircraft deliveries to Germany scheduled for 2026 and initial operational capability at Büchel in 2027.
Arming those jets with the JSM before they even reach Büchel ensures that Germany’s F-35s will be combat-capable from day one of European operations. The combined value of both JSM tranches — roughly NOK 10 billion, or just over $1 billion — represents one of the largest European missile procurement programmes of the decade and positions Kongsberg as a key beneficiary of NATO’s post-2022 rearmament cycle.
For those of us watching from the European side, the pattern is clear: the F-35 is not just an aircraft. It is an ecosystem — and every nation that buys the jet ends up buying Norwegian missiles to go with it. Kongsberg, it turns out, built the ammunition for the most successful fighter programme in Western history.
Sources: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace, Naval News, Defence Industry Europe, Janes, ASD News
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