Spain’s Arpa Expands Kongsberg NASAMS Partnership Abroad

Spanish engineering firm Arpa is extending its industrial partnership with Norway’s Kongsberg on the NASAMS air-defence system beyond Spain, into international programmes. The Zaragoza-based company, which builds the command-and-control shelters for NASAMS and integrates the equipment inside them, will now take on that role for more than one country’s programme.

Infodefensa broke the story on Thursday, 5 November, at 09:45. The expansion builds on a cooperation agreement the two companies signed in May 2025 at the Feindef trade fair in Madrid. Arpa’s existing work falls under the Spanish Army’s NASAMS modernisation programme; the new deal extends that cooperation to programmes outside Spain.

Arpa’s role has two parts. It manufactures the shelters that physically house NASAMS command-and-control centres, and it integrates the electronics and subsystems that make those shelters functional. Infodefensa frames this as engineering and systems integration work, not simple structural fabrication.

NASAMS was jointly developed by Kongsberg and the US company Raytheon. Its command-and-control centres process radar and sensor data and coordinate the launch of interceptor missiles — meaning the shelters Arpa builds house what amounts to the system’s operational brain.

The report discloses no contract value and no precise number of units. Infodefensa says multiple shelters are planned for several countries’ programmes, with deliveries over the coming months, but does not name the destination countries; the only confirmed reference point remains Spain’s own NASAMS modernisation.

Arpa described itself as having become “a trusted industrial partner” for Kongsberg. The company said in a statement: “This new milestone showcases our ability to meet the most demanding international standards,” adding that Kongsberg’s expanded trust confirms its capacity to take on greater responsibilities in international air-defence programmes.

The deal illustrates the growing role small and mid-sized firms play in Europe’s air-defence supply chain. NASAMS has become one of the continent’s most in-demand systems since it emerged as a frontline component of Ukraine’s air defence, and Kongsberg’s push to widen its network of local integrators, Arpa among them, reflects an effort to scale up output against a larger order book.

Arpa is a Zaragoza-based engineering company specialising in electronic systems integration and custom shelter manufacturing for both defence and civilian clients. Its relationship with Kongsberg reflects a broader pattern in Spain’s defence industry, where large foreign systems integrators partner with domestic firms both to meet offset obligations and to expand production capacity against rising European demand.

NASAMS is already fielded by a long list of operators, including the United States, Norway, Finland, the Netherlands, Lithuania, Indonesia and Ukraine. Its use of the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile family keeps it compatible with NATO standards and interoperable with munitions stocks across different user countries — a user base whose maintenance and expansion needs Arpa’s shelter and integration business is now positioned to help serve from within Europe.

Sources

• Infodefensa.com, “La española Arpa amplía su alianza industrial con la noruega Kongsberg para nuevos programas internacionales de NASAMS”, 5 November 2026, https://www.infodefensa.com/texto-diario/mostrar/6079561/espanola-arpa-amplia-alianza-industrial-noruega-kongsberg-nuevos-programas-internacionales-nasams — primary source for the agreement, the roles described and the quotes used in this article.