JASSM Moves To Full-Rate Production

The Air Force's extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile program has moved to full-rate production following a recent milestone decision, prime contractor Lockheed Martin said today.

The new JASSM design more than doubles the subsonic cruise missile's range to 500 nautical miles compared to the baseline variant, which entered production in 2001.

The production decision follows the 2,000-pound class missile's integration with the B-1B Lancer conventional bomber. The baseline missile is integrated with most Air Force fighters and bombers as well as the Royal Australian Air Force's F/A-18 Hornet.

“Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER cruise autonomously day or night in all weather conditions,” the company wrote in a Dec. 15 statement. “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.”

According to an April Selected Acquisition Report, the full-rate production decision had initially been slated for December 2013 following test and evaluation. The decision was pushed right due to delivery delays, the document states.

Lockheed said the Lot 11 and Lot 12 JASSM contracts awarded last December include 100 extended-range variants. The company said JASSM-ER had 20 successful test flights and one failure during testing last year.

The announcement follows an October report by the Defense Security Cooperation Agency that the government has approved the sale of baseline JASSM missiles to Poland. The missile would be integrated with Poland's F-16 fighter jet.

Poland would be the third JASSM foreign military sales customer following Australia and Finland.