Lockheed Martin lands $390M order for lot 16 JASSM-ER production.

Lockheed Martin has been awarded a US$390 million contract for AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) production, the US Department of Defense announced on October 5, 2018.

A JASSM missile launched by US Air Force B-2 Spirit strategic bomber
(Credit: US Air Force)

Lockheed Martin won a contract for JASSM "lot 16 production for 360 JASSM-extended range, three foreign military sales (FMS) separation text vehicles, one FMS flight test vehicle-live fire and tooling and test equipment," the Pentagon says. 

Production work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Oct. 31, 2021.

As of 2018, the JASSM has entered foreign service in Australia, Finland, and Poland. The Polish Air Force received the first batch of AGM-158A JASSM cruise missile in January 2017. Poland selected Lockheed Martin's JASSM on September 2015 for its F-16 fleet. Poland becam the third international customer for JASSM, after Finland and Australia air forces chose it in 2011 and 2006.

The first flight test of the JASSM-ER occurred in 2006 when a missile was launched from a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico. The first flight test of the JASSM-ER occurred in 2006 when a missile was launched from a U.S. Air Force B-1 bomber at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.

The JASSM-ER entered service with the USAF in April 2014. Using a more efficient engine and larger fuel volume in an airframe with the same external dimensions as the JASSM, the JASSM-ER is intended to have a range of over 925 km as compared to the JASSM's range of about 370 km.