Lockheed Martin to build 790 JASSM-ER stealthy air-to-ground missiles for Air force in $818.2 million deal
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Missile experts at Lockheed Martin Corp. will build 790 stealthy long-range cruise missiles, called the AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), for the U.S. Air Force under terms of a $818.2 million contract announced Wednesday.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., are asking the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control segment in Orlando, Fla., to provide Lot 17 and 18 production for the JASSM-ER weapons program.
The contract includes 360 lot 17 JASSM-ER missiles; 40 lot 17 JASSM-ER missiles for foreign military sales; and 390 lot 18 JASSM-ER missiles.
JASSM-ER is a 2,250-pound cruise missile with a 1,000-pound penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead. It uses precision routing and guidance in adverse weather, day or night, using an infrared seeker in addition to the anti-jam GPS to find a specific aim point on the target.
JASSM, which has been in service since 2009, is a long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for the U.S. and allied forces that is designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets. The JASSM has a range of 230 miles, while the JASSM-ER has a range of 620 miles.
The stealthy JASSM’s significant standoff range keeps air crews well out of danger from hostile air defense systems, while its stealthy airframe makes the smart munition extremely difficult to defeat, Lockheed Martin officials say.
JASSM can be fired from several different aircraft, including the B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16, F/A-18E/F, and F-15E. International JASSM users include the Australian, Finnish, and Polish air forces.
Looking to the future, Lockheed Martin is working on the JASSM to enable the missile to fire from U.S. and international versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft and other international military aircraft.
On this contract Lockheed Martin will do the work in Orlando, Fla., and should be finished by October 2024. For more information contact Lockheed Missiles and Fire Control online at www.lockheedmartin.com, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center-Eglin at www.eglin.af.mil/Units/Armament-Directorate.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
