Nammo, short for Nordic Ammunition Company, is a Norwegian- Finnish aerospace and defence group specialized in production of

ammunition Ammunition, also known as ammo, is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. The term includes both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines), and the component parts of oth ...

rocket engine A rocket engine is a reaction engine, producing thrust in accordance with Newton's third law by ejecting reaction mass rearward, usually a high-speed Jet (fluid), jet of high-temperature gas produced by the combustion of rocket propellants stor ...

s and space applications. The company has subsidiaries in Finland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, and the United States. The company ownership is evenly split between the Norwegian government (represented by the

Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway * Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

) and the Finnish defence company Patria. The company has its headquarters in Raufoss, Norway. The company has four business units: Small and Medium Caliber Ammunition, Large Caliber Systems, Aerospace Propulsion, and Commercial Ammunition.

History

Nammo was founded in 1998 by Raufoss (Norway), Patria (Finland), and (Sweden). The in

Lapua Lapua (; ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, town and municipalities of Finland, municipality in Finland's South Ostrobothnia regions of Finland, region. It is located next to the Lapua River. The town has a population of () and cov ...

, Finland, is also part of the Nammo group as . In 2005, the present joint ownership between Patria and the Norwegian government was established. In 2007, Nammo acquired the US munitions company Talley, Inc. after purchasing 100% of its shares.

Controversies

Norwegian export control laws prohibit Norwegian companies from selling munitions to countries at war or conflict. Nammo's then information director, Sissel Solum, said Nammo bears no responsibility for the use of their munitions after purchase, although some claimed (including the Norwegian Church Aid and PRIO) that this is a breach of the intended spirit of national export regulations. In 2009, it was revealed that the Israeli Defense Forces purchased 28,000 M72 LAWs from Nammo Talley, along with weapons parts and training missiles valued at NOK 600 million. These munitions were later used in

Operation Cast Lead Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. According to Nammo Raufoss AS managing director, Lars Harald Lied, the company also produces 12.7mm "Multi-Purpose" ammunition that was used by both American and Norwegian soldiers in the

War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC), the conquest of Afghanistan by the Macedonian Empire * Muslim conquests of Afghanistan, a series of campaigns in ...

Products

Current production

Missiles parts and assembly

* Propulsion ** AIM-9L Sidewinder - propellant production **

AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) ( ) is an American Beyond-visual-range missile, beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It uses active transmit-receive radar guidance ...

- solid rocket motor ** IRIS-T family: ***

IRIS-T The IRIS-T (infrared imaging system tail/thrust vector-controlled) is a family of short range infrared homing air-to-air missile, air-to-air and short to medium range surface-to-air missile, surface-to-air missiles. It is also called AIM-2000. ...

(air-to-air) - solid rocket motor *** IRIS-T SLS (same missile as air-to-air variant) - solid rocket motor *** IRIS-T SLM - solid rocket motor *** IRIS-T SLX - solid rocket motor *** IDAS (interactive defence & attack for submarines) - solid rocket motor ** Thales LMM - solid rocket motor ** Naval strike missile - rocket booster ** Penguin Mk2 Mod7 (helicopter launched) - solid rocket motor ** RIM-162 ESSM - solid rocket motor ** SM40 Exocet - rocket booster

Orbital launch vehicle

* Rockets: ** Nammo Space Nucleus Sounding Rocket * Rocket parts: ** Rocket propulsion: *** Nammo manufactures the separation rocket motors for

Ariane 6 Ariane 6 is a European expendable launch system developed for the European Space Agency (ESA) and manufactured by a consortium of European companies, led by the prime contractor ArianeGroup. As part of the Ariane rocket family, it is operate ...

, and in the past manufactured them for the

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a retired European heavy-lift space launch vehicle operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It was launched from the Guiana Space Centre (CSG) in French Guiana. It was used to deliver payloads into geostationar ...

. *** P120 Booster Igniter for the

Vega Vega is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Lyra. It has the Bayer designation α Lyrae, which is Latinised to Alpha Lyrae and abbreviated Alpha Lyr or α Lyr. This star is relatively close at only from the Sun, and ...

and

rockets *** 220N Monopropellant Thruster - Nammo’s green propulsion technologies for Roll and Attitude Control Systems *** Unitary Motor 1, a 30kN hybrid engine for the Nucleus Sounding Rocket ** Propellant tanks: *** Aluminium propellant tank for the Vega upper stage AVUM * Satellites: ** In January 2013, Nammo and the Andøya Rocket Range

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

announced that they would be " developing an orbital Nanosatellite launch vehicle (NLV)

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

system A system is a group of interacting or interrelated elements that act according to a set of rules to form a unified whole. A system, surrounded and influenced by its open system (systems theory), environment, is described by its boundaries, str ...

called '' North Star'' that uses a standardized hybrid motor, clustered in different numbers and arrangements, to build two types of

sounding rocket A sounding rocket or rocketsonde, sometimes called a research rocket or a suborbital rocket, is an instrument-carrying rocket designed to take measurements and perform scientific experiments during its sub-orbital flight. The rockets are often ...

s and an orbital launcher", able to deliver a nanosat into

polar orbit A polar orbit is one in which a satellite passes above or nearly above both poles of the body being orbited (usually a planet such as the Earth, but possibly another body such as the Moon or Sun) on each revolution. It has an inclination of abo ...

Small calibre ammunition

* 5.56×45mm NATO * 6.5×47mm Lapua * 7.62×39mm *

7.62×51mm NATO The 7.62×51mm NATO (official NATO nomenclature 7.62 NATO) is a rimless, straight walled, bottlenecked, centerfire rifle cartridge. It is a standard for small arms among NATO countries. First developed in the 1950s, the cartridge had first be ...

and .308 Winchester * 7.62×54mmR/ 7.62×53mmR * .30-06 Springfield (7.62×63mm) * .338 Lapua Magnum (8.6×70mm) *

9×19mm Parabellum The 9×19mm Parabellum (also known as 9mm Luger, 9mm NATO or simply 9mm) is a Rim (firearms)#Rimless, rimless, Centerfire ammunition, centerfire, tapered cartridge (firearms), firearms cartridge. Originally designed by Austrian firearm designer ...

* 12.7×99mm (.50 BMG) * 12.7×99 mm Raufoss Mk 211 multipurpose

Medium calibre ammunition

As of 2024, Nammo produced the following non-exhaustive list of medium: * Cartridges ** 20×102mm ** 20×128mm ** 20×139mm ** 25×137mm ** 27×145mm ** 30×113mm ** 30×173mm ** 30×173mm Swimmer ( APFSDS-T MK 258 Mod 1) ** 35×228mm ** 57mm L/70 3P * Grenade for grenade launcher ** 40 mm RF AIRBURST AMMUNITION ** 40×53mm HV

Indirect fire ammunition

* Propellant charges for artillery and mortars * Mortar shells (60, 81 and 120mm) ** HE ** IR smoke ** Illuminating * Artillery shell bodies (155mm)

Tank ammunition

* 120 mm tank ammunition ** HE target practice ** HE ** Kinetic Energy Target Practice ** IM Canister

Other types of ammunitions

* Hand grenades ** SOHG (Scalable Offensive Hand Grenade) ** HGO50-3.5 (offensive hand grenade) ** HGO225-3.5 (offensive hand grenade) ** Fragmentation increment sleeve for offensive hand grenade ** M67 hand grenade ** HGF165-3.5 (fragmentation hand grenade) ** Training hand grenades ** TTC Smoke grenade * Ignition systems * APOBS Mk7 Mod2 (Anti-personnel breaching system) * Warheads ** 70 mm rocket warhead

Shoulder-fired systems

Nammo has manufactured shoulder-fired systems since the 1960s, with licence production of the M72 LAW beginning at Raufoss in Norway in 1966. In 2007, Nammo acquired the US munitions company Talley, Inc. after purchasing 100% of its shares. Today, Nammo has operations in ten places in the US (Nammo Defense Systems Inc.) and is the only licensed manufacturer of the M72 LAW, with production lines in Raufoss and Mesa, Arizona. In addition to the M72, Mesa also manufactures the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition for the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

, while Nammo's facilities in

Columbus, Mississippi Columbus is a city in and the county seat of Lowndes County, Mississippi, Lowndes County, on the eastern border of Mississippi, United States, located primarily east, but also north and northeast of the Tombigbee River, which is also part of the ...

, manufactures ammunition for the SMAW system for the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

. Nammo Defense Systems Inc., Mesa, Arizona, was awarded a $498,092,926 firm-fixed-price contract for the full rate production of M72 light assault weapon variants and components for shoulder-launched munitions training systems on 20 December 2021.

Products in development

Missiles parts

* THOR-ER - ramjet missile engine in development * NSM-SL - a submarine launched Naval Strike Missile, participating to the study of a submarine variant, focusing on the rocket boosting system for a submarine launched weapon * Nammo develops with Northrop Grumman the Mk72 solid rocket motor for the first stage of the future Raytheon SM-3 Block1B missile of the US Navy.

Rocket engine consultancy and development

In 2019, Nammo was awarded an ESA contract to initiate development of a reusable rocket engine for the ascent stage of the Heracles lunar lander. The engine may be fed by electrically driven pumps, from low pressure propellant tanks, which may enable in-space refueling.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Manufacturing companies of Norway Defence companies of Norway Defence companies of Finland Defence companies of Sweden Spaceflight Companies established in 1998 Companies based in Innlandet Ammunition manufacturers 1998 establishments in Norway Patria (company)