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Lockheed Martin Awarded $42 Million Contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Development

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Lockheed Martin Awarded $42 Million Contract for Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Development

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JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range)
JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range)

Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control, Orlando, Florida, has been awarded a $42,100,000 undefinitized modification (P00016) to contract FA8682-18-C-0009 for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) group one development. This contract modification supports the Global Positioning System receiver development and the development of the missile control unit gigabit cables. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed Dec. 31, 2023. Total cumulative face value of the contract is $214,912,654. The u.s. Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.

The AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) is a low observable standoff air-launched cruise missile developed by Lockheed Martin for the United States Armed Forces.[4] It is a large, stealthy long-range weapon with a 1,000 pound (454 kg) armor piercing warhead. It completed testing and entered service with the U.S. Air Force in 2009, and has entered foreign service in Australia, Finland, and Poland as of 2014. An extended range version of the missile, the AGM-158B JASSM-ER (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range), entered service in 2014. By September 2016, Lockheed Martin had delivered 2,000 total JASSMs comprising both variants to the USAF.

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The US Air Force studied various improvements to the AGM-158, resulting in the development of the JASSM-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), which received the designation AGM-158B in 2002. 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 575 miles (925 km) as compared to the JASSM’s range of about 230 miles (370 km). Other possible improvements were studied but ultimately not pursued, including a submunition dispenser warhead, new types of homing head, and a new engine giving ranges in excess of 620 miles (1,000 km). The JASSM-ER has 70% hardware commonality and 95% software commonality with the original AGM-158 JASSM.

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