Lockheed Martin received two production contracts on Dec. 19, 2013, totaling $449 million from the U.S. Air Force for continued production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Extended Range (ER) variant.
The Lot 11 and Lot 12 contracts include production of 340 baseline missiles and 100 ER missiles. The contracts also include systems engineering, logistics support, tooling, and test equipment. This is the first time the JASSM program has been awarded consecutive production lots at the same time.
"These contracts bring the total number of JASSM cruise missiles on contract to over 2,100, and underscore the U.S. Air Force's and Lockheed Martin's commitment to the program," said Jason Denney, program director of Long Range Strike Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "JASSM's high reliability and capability allow it to defeat high-value, well-defended current and future threats."
The contract awards follow several JASSM program milestones, including Foreign Military Sales contracts to integrate JASSM onto the Republic of Finland's F/A-18C/D aircraft. They also represent the third and fourth production lots for JASSM-ER, which successfully completed U.S. Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation flight testing in August 2012.
Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER cruise autonomously day or night in all weather conditions. Both missiles share the same powerful capabilities and stealthy characteristics, though JASSM-ER has more than two-and-a-half times the range of the baseline JASSM for greater standoff margin. These 2,000-lb cruise missiles employ an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver to dial into specific target aimpoints.
Effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed, and relocatable targets, the stealthy JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force's B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16, and F-15E. The B-1B also carries JASSM-ER.
Internationally, JASSM is integrated on the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18A/B. Future integration efforts will focus on the U.S. and international versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and other international platforms.
Source: Lockheed Martin
Latest from Aerospace Manufacturing and Design
- Loar Holdings acquires Applied Avionics Inc.
- Tungaloy's AM type insert for non-ferrous metal machining for multi-functional milling cutter
- IMTS 2024 Conference: Intelligent Machine Learning-based Recommendations for Computed Tomography-Scanner Parameter Selection
- magniX to retrofit DHC-7 with electric powertrain
- Platinum Tooling's REV broaching tools
- IMTS 2024 Conference: The Benefits of Using 3D-printing-designed Metal Alloys for Your Parts
- Get a preview of metrology, measurement, and more in this glimpse at IMTS 2024
- Starting your automation journey? You don’t need to go it alone