The Air Force on Friday awarded Lockheed Martin [LMT] a $390 million contract to continue production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff missile (JASSM) currently in use on several of the service’s fighter and bomber fleets.
The contract is for Lot 16 production and includes 360 JASSM-extended range (JASSM-ER) missiles, three foreign military sales (FMS) separation text vehicles, one FMS flight test vehicle-live fire and tooling and test equipment, according to the contract announcement. Work will be performed in Orlando, Florida, and should be completed before November 2021.
The award is the result of a sole-source acquisition, as Lockheed Martin is the JASSM manufacturer. It uses fiscal 2018 missile procurement funds and FMS funds, according to the Defense Department.
The extended range version has more than two-and-a-half times the range of JASSM for greater standoff distance, according to Lockheed Martin. It is currently integrated on the Air Force’s B-1B supersonic bomber and F-15E fighter aircraft, and is in the process of being integrated on the F-16C/D fighter aircraft and the B-52H bomber.
JASSM is integrated on the Air Force’s B-1B, B-2 and B-52 bombers, as well as the F-16 and F-15E fighters. It is also carried by international F/A-18A/B, F-18C/D and F-16 Block 52 aircraft, according to the company.
This past September, the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $51 million contract to develop the next iteration of the cruise missile, dubbed JASSM-XR. The program will include a new missile control unit and the necessary hardware and infrastructure to support JASSM-XR production, according to the contract announcement.