Updated JASSM® Missile Completes Important Lockheed Martin Flight Tests
Lockheed Martin’s (NYSE: LMT) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) completed two product verification flight tests at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico.
A Lockheed Martin JASSM missile closes in on a target during a test. (Photo by © Lockheed Martin)
Focused on demonstrating the updated Global Positioning System (GPS) anti-jam hardware and software, flight testing verified effective operation in both GPS-degraded and non-jammed environments. B-2 and B-52 bomber aircraft launched the JASSM missiles at altitudes greater than 24,000 feet. The missiles navigated to and destroyed their intended targets, completing all mission objectives.
“JASSM is effective in a variety of challenging mission environments,” said Jason Denney, program director of Long-Range Strike Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “With these JASSM product updates, we continue to provide a wide range of affordable options that ensure a tactical advantage for U.S. and allied warfighters.”
Armed with a penetrating blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-Extended Range (ER) can be used in all weather conditions. They share the same powerful capabilities and stealth characteristics, though JASSM-ER has more than two-and-a-half times the range of JASSM for greater standoff distance. In addition to the enhanced digital anti-jam GPS receiver, these highly accurate cruise missiles also employ an infrared seeker to dial into specific points on targets.
Effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocatable targets, JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force’s B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. The B-1B also carries JASSM-ER. Internationally, JASSM is carried on the F/A-18A/B and the F-18C/D aircraft. Produced at the company’s manufacturing facility in Troy, Alabama, more than 2,000 JASSMs have been delivered. Lockheed Martin delivered the 2,000th JASSM to the U.S. Air Force in August 2016.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
Source: ORLANDO, Fla., Lockheed Martin News /PRNewswire/ March 8, 2017
