Army asks Lockheed Martin to build JAGM air-to-ground missiles with multi-mode guidance sections
REDSTONE ARSENAL, Ala. – Missile experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build next-generation air-to-ground missiles under terms of a $49.6 million contract announced Tuesday.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., are asking the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control segment in Orlando, Fla., to build a new batch of the Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM).
Lockheed Martin is developing the JAGM for launch from the Army AH-64 Apache attack helicopter, the Army MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), the Navy MH-60R helicopter, and the Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter. JAGM is to replace U.S. Army and Navy inventories of Airborne TOW, Maverick, and Hellfire air-to-ground missiles.
The Lockheed Martin JAGM has a multi-mode guidance section with semi-active laser (SAL) sensor for precision-strike and a fire-and-forget millimeter wave (MMW) radar for moving targets in all-weather conditions.
JAGM can engage several different stationary and moving targets in the bad weather, smoke and dust, and advanced countermeasures. Laser and radar guided engagement modes enable JAGM to strike accurately and reduce collateral damage, Lockheed Martin officials say.
Related: Lockheed Martin gets go-ahead to develop new Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM)
JAGM’s targets include moving and stationary armored combat vehicles; air defense units; patrol craft; artillery; missile launchers; radar sites; command-and-control nodes; bunkers; and other structures in urban and complex terrain.
The modular and low-risk JAGM design includes the Lockheed Martin AGM-114 Hellfire missile body and the new multi-mode seeker. The JAGM guidance section blends semi-active laser guidance and millimeter wave radar to guide the new missile to its target. Future improvements may include an uncooled infrared sensor in a new tri-mode seeker.
The U.S. Defense Acquisition Board in June approved Lockheed Martin for milestone C, which authorized the company to begin JAGM low-rate initial production (LRIP). Lockheed Martin won a $66.4 million Army contract in 2015 to develop the JAGM missile in anticipation of follow-on production contracts.
On this week's contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Orlando, Fla., and should be finished by February 2021. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control online at www.lockheedmartin.com, or the Army Contracting Command-Redstone at www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-rsa.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
