Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace Inc., the U.S. subsidiary of Norway defense and aerospace systems giant Kongsberg, said Tuesday it will invest more than $100 million into Virginia over the next few years, including $71 million for a new missile production facility in James City County.
The parent company, which posted the equivalent of about $1.09 billion in revenue in the second quarter, plans to invest about $30 million in other costs, including engineering and software, according to an announcement from the Virginia governor’s office.
Virginia said it beat out two other states to land the economic development prize, which will create more than 180 jobs.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved a $1.5 million grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund to assist James City County, which is located about 35 miles east of Richmond, on the project. Young also approved a $750,000 performance-based Virginia Investment Performance Grant, which encourages continued capital investment by companies located in Virginia. The Virginia Talent Accelerator Program will support job creation and training related to the project, according to the governor’s office.
“We will also be investing more than $100 million into the commonwealth of Virginia over the next few years, in terms of property, plant and equipment,” Heather Armentrout, president and general manager, Kongsberg Defense and Aerospace Inc., said in a statement. “This is in addition to expansion at our core U.S. production facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.”
The new facility will be equipped to assemble, upgrade and repair both Kongsberg’s Naval Strike Missiles and joint-strike missiles. The NSM is an antiship missile with survivability against enemy defense systems, while the JSM is an air-launched strike missile designed to fulfill complex missions, such as antisurface warfare and land attack. The JSM is designed to be deployed internal to the weapons bay of the U.S. Air Force’s F-35A fighter jet, which is designed by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Kongsberg said in its announcement the decision to open the new U.S. facility “was heavily influenced by the possibility that the Department of Defense could award a multiyear procurement contract.”