Breaking news
US Air Force approves full rate production for Lockheed Martin's JASSM-ER missile.
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World Defense & Security Industry News - Lockheed Martin |
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| US Air Force approves full rate production for Lockheed Martin's JASSM-ER missile | |||
The U.S. Air Force
has approved full rate production for Lockheed Martin’s Joint
Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range (JASSM-ER). JASSM-ER
successfully completed U.S. Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation
(IOT&E) flight testing in 2013. During IOT&E, the program had
a 95 percent success rate, scoring 20 successes in 21 flights. Lots
11 and 12 of the JASSM contract awarded in December 2013 included 100
ER missiles.
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 Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile – Extended Range launched from a B-1B Lancer strategic bomber |
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“The
full rate production decision demonstrates that our customer, at all levels
of the U.S. Air Force, has confidence in JASSM-ER,” said Jason
Denney, long-range strike systems program director at Lockheed Martin
Missiles and Fire Control. “JASSM-ER provides warfighters with
a first day, first strike capability in an anti-access, area-denial environment.” Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER cruise autonomously day or night in all weather conditions. The AGM-158B JASSM-ER maintains the same mold line and size, but it substitutes a Williams International turbofan for the baseline JASSM’s Teledyne turbojet, and adds extra fuel within the missile body, without dropping payload or electronics capabilities. The 2 variants share 70% of their hardware, and 95% of their software. 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-pound cruise missiles employ an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver to dial into specific target aimpoints. JASSM and JASSM-ER are critical weapons for the U.S. Air Force. Extremely effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocatable targets, the stealthy JASSM-ER is integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-1B. JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-2, B-52, F-16, F-15E, and internationally, on the Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18A/B. Produced at the company’s award-winning manufacturing facility in Troy, Alabama, more than 1,500 JASSM cruise missiles have been assembled for testing and operational use toward a total U.S. Air Force objective of 4,900. |
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