*Source: DTN News / Lockheed Martin
(NSI News Source Info) ORLANDO, Fla. - July 7, 2009: Lockheed Martin was awarded a $23 million contract for production of 12 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER) test missiles to be used in flights tests. Six of the missiles will be used to complete the development test flight program, with the remaining six to be used in operational tests.
The JASSM project began in 1995 after the cancellation of the AGM-137 TSSAM project. The TSSAM was designed as a high precision stealthy missile for use at stand-off ranges, but poor management of the project resulted in rising costs. Since the requirement for such weapons still existed, the military quickly announced a follow-up project with similar goals. Initial contracts for two competing designs were awarded to McDonnell Douglas and Lockheed Martin in 1996, and the missile designations AGM-158A and AGM-159A were allocated to the two weapons. Lockheed Martin's AGM-158A won and a contract for further development was awarded in 1998. The AGM-158A is powered by a Teledyne CAE J402 turbojet. While carried the wings are folded to reduce size, flipping out on launch. There is a single vertical tail. Guidance is via inertial navigation with updating from a global positioning system. Target recognition and terminal homing is via an imaging infrared seeker. A data link allows the missile to transmit its location and status during flight, allowing improved bomb damage assessment. Accuracy is has been questionable and the program has been over funded resulting in considerations to drop the program entirely. The warhead is a WDU-42/B 450 kg (1000 lb) penetrator.
The JASSM will be carried by a wide range of aircraft - the F-15E, F-16, F/A-18, F-35, B-1B, B-2 and B-52 are all intended to carry the weapon.
All of the missiles will be tactically configured with an added test instrumentation kit. The missiles are assembled in Lockheed Martin's award-winning missile assembly facility in Pike County, AL.
"These tests will demonstrate the maturity of the JASSM-ER design, and support the Milestone C decision to proceed with low rate initial production of the missile," said Alan Jackson, director of the JASSM and JASSM-ER programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. 
The AGM-158 JASSM (Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile) is a standoff cruise missile developed in the United States. Finland planned to purchase JASSM missiles for the Finnish Air Force as part of modernization plans of its F/A-18 Hornet fleet. In February 2007 the United States declined to sell the missiles, while agreeing to proceed as planned with other modernization efforts (the so-called Mid-Life Update 2, or MLU2). This episode led to speculation in the Finnish media on the state of Finnish - American diplomatic relations.
The Defense Acquisition and Program Administration (DAPA) of South Korea has announced that it is planning to purchase and equip ROKAF's fleet of F-15K Slam Eagles with JASSM by 2010 to 2011.
The flight tests will be launched from a B-1B aircraft and engage various tactical targets. JASSM-ER has a 100 percent success rate, currently four-for-four in developmental flight tests.
The development and procurement of JASSM-ER is a key element of the B-1B reinvestment strategy.
The additional range provided by the JASSM-ER variant benefits the B-1B with responsive, precision-engagement capability, while remaining clear of highly-defended airspace and beyond the range of long-range, surface-to-air missiles.
One of the primary JASSM-ER program objectives is to provide the Warfighter with a significant operational capability more than 2.5 times the baseline missile range. The JASSM-ER maintains the same outer mold line, survivability and lethality of the baseline JASSM missile.
A 2,000-pound class weapon with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM cruises autonomously in adverse weather, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker in addition to the enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to find a specific aimpoint on the target. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult for air defense systems to engage. The JASSM-ER missile design will be compatible with the threshold B-1B platform, as well as the B-2, B-52 and F-16 aircraft that currently employ JASSM.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 146,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.
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