Norway to buy US air-to-air missiles for over $360M

Photo via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Norway has agreed with U.S. authorities to buy AIM-120C-8 AMRAAM air defence missiles for more than 4 billion Norwegian crowns ($362.91 million), the Norwegian military said on Monday.

"With more and newer missiles, the Norwegian Armed Forces will have a better ability to protect Norway against air attacks," Norway's Defence Minister Bjoern Arild Gram said in a statement from the Norwegian Defence Material Agency.

The missiles are primarily intended for Norway's ground-based air defence system, but can also be included in the weapons inventory of F-35A fighter aircraft, the agency said.

The procurement was among the largest single procurements of weapons ever made for the Norwegian Armed Forces, according to the agency.

Norway, which is a member of NATO and shares a border with Russia, has vowed to ramp up defence spending following Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

($1 = 11.0220 Norwegian crowns)

(Reporting by Louise Breusch Rasmussen, editing by Terje Solsvik)

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