(THIS ARTICLE IS MACHINE TRANSLATED by Google from Norwegian)
New Age's cluster munitions unveiling on Christmas Eve attracted attention. Talley Defense Systems, the factory Nammo bought before Christmas in the USA, is involved in cluster munitions production in several ways. On TV 2, Minister of Trade and Industry Dag Terje Andersen said that he had asked the group management in Nammo for an explanation.
Nammo eventually sent out a press release in which the company denies the allegations, claiming Talley does not manufacture components used specifically in cluster weapons. But how can it be that the company markets its own technology for four different cluster weapon systems on its website?
- What Talley produces for the artillery shell M864, is an incendiary charge that increases its range, says production director Johs Norheim in Nammo.
- How can you then claim that no components are made for cluster munitions? This is a cluster munition.
- Because this incendiary charge can be used in other artillery shells as well.
- But Talley markets it specifically for use in the M864, among other things?
- Yes, they do so far, Norheim admits.
He emphasizes that Nammo also makes such incendiary charges for artillery ammunition. This is exported to Sweden and Germany, among other places. Nammo otherwise reacts to the fact that the other three weapon systems Ny Tid mentioned are called cluster munitions. The BAT small bombs in the ATACMS are equipped with a self-destruction mechanism, and Norheim therefore believes that this is a "smarter" weapon than the traditional cluster munitions.
- There are no smart cluster munitions, it is a stupid idea, says Per Nergaard in Norwegian People's Aid.
Nergaard believes the ignition rates for the cluster weapon M864 can be the most difficult case when Nammo has to explain to the Minister of Industry.
- Talley and Nammo have placed themselves in the middle of the discussion about what should be allowed and what should not be. As I understand it, they make a custom ignition kit that solves a problem you have previously had with the cluster weapon M864. It is a concrete involvement, he states.
The development project of new MLRS technology with heat-seeking small bombs has been shelved, Nammo states. A number of Tomahawk missiles were produced in the 1990s, and Talley can in principle be asked to participate if more are ordered. Nammo's press release does not comment on the factual basis in what Ny Tid has written that the weapons factory's location in the USA makes it possible to export to countries Norway otherwise does not export weapons to, but writes that the acquisition was not made with the intention of exploiting this.
