Work on JASSM-XR will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2023
The Pentagon announced on Sep. 10 that it has given Lockheed Martin $51 million contract to develop the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile Extreme Range (JASSM-XR).
Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and is expected to be completed by Aug. 31, 2023.
JASSM is a long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for the U.S. and allied forces. Designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets, JASSM’s significant standoff range keeps aircrews well out of danger from hostile air defense systems.
A 2,000-pound class weapon with a penetrator/blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM employs precision routing and guidance in adverse weather, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker in addition to the anti-jam GPS to find a specific aimpoint on the target. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult to defeat.
Using a more efficient engine and larger fuel volume in an airframe with the same external dimensions as the JASSM, the JASSM-ER features a range of over 575 miles (925 km) as compared to the JASSM’s range of about 230 miles (370 km).
Effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocatable targets, JASSM-ER is integrated on the F-15E and on the B-1B and currently in the process of integration on the F-16C/D and the internal bay and wings of the B-52H. JASSM is integrated on the USAF’s B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. Internationally, JASSM is carried on the F/A-18A/B, F-18C/D and F-16 Block 52 aircraft. Produced at the company’s manufacturing facility in Troy, Alabama, more than 2,150 JASSMs have been delivered.
Photo credit: Marco Jansen via Wikipedia
