Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) recently completed a successful Product Verification Test (PVT) at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., the company said recently.
Released by a B-52 at 25,000 feet and at Mach 0.76, JASSM successfully navigated through a preplanned route before destroying its intended target. The test validated software upgrades for 158 Lot 8 JASSM missiles, which will begin delivery in third quarter 2011, according to a company press release.
“Flight validation of JASSM’s software enhancements continues our efforts to expand missile capability and demonstrate reliability,” said Alan Jackson, JASSM program director in Lockheed Martin’s Missiles and Fire Control business. “Additionally, we are constantly striving to make JASSM more affordable for our customers.”
The JASSM PVT success follows the Lot 9 contract of $162 million, which was awarded in April, for 170 baseline and 30 Extended Range (ER) missiles, according to the DoD. The Air Force has over 1,400 JASSM missiles on contract, with more than 1,080 delivered. Also produced for foreign military sale, JASSM is integrated on multiple aircraft including the B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-18 aircraft. F-15E integration is proceeding and the F-35 has been designated as a future platform.
Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER are 2,000-pound cruise missiles that employ a state-of-the-art infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver. However, the JASSM-ER has more than two-and-a-half times the range of baseline JASSM for greater standoff range.
Lockheed Martin manufactures JASSM at its manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala.