Lockheed Martin ramps-up building JASSM and LRASM air-to-surface missiles with semi-autonomous guidance
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – U.S. Air Force air-to-surface weapons experts are asking Lockheed Martin Corp. to ramp-up production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and Long-Range Anti-Ship (LRASM) Missile.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced a $130 million order Thursday to the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control segment in Orlando, Fla., to procure tooling and test equipment necessary to increase production quantities of JASSM and LRASM.
JASSM, which has been in service since 2009, is a long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for 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 extended-range JASSM-ER has a range of 620 miles.
The 5,000-pound AGM-158D will nearly double the range of the JASSM-ER to 1,200 miles and carry an explosive warhead of 2,000 pounds by using an enhanced wing design, new missile control unit, a different paint coating, an electronic safe and arm fuze, and secure GPS receiver. The first AGM-158D are scheduled for deliveries in January 2024.