Article Posted on : - May 30, 2014

AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missile (JASSM).

CANBERRA (BNS):The Final Operational Capability (FOC) had been achieved for Project AIR 5418, the AGM-158A Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missile (JASSM), announced Minister for Defence, Senator David Johnston.

"The Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-Off Missile is now fully in service and is an extremely capable, long range missile that meets the future requirements of Air Force," Senator Johnston, was quoted as saying in the Australia MoD release.

Successful JASSM integration forms a key piece of the strike capability and ensures that Air Force can meet future operational demands, he added.

Chief of Air Force, Air Marshal Geoff Brown AO, said the JASSM was designed to attack high-value, heavily defended targets such as hardened bunkers, or pinpoint objectives such as radar and communications sites.

"This long range, highly accurate missile can be released far from enemy targets, keeping RAAF aircrew out of harm's way without compromising mission objectives," added Chief of Air Force.

JASSM is a 'military-off-the-shelf' long range guided missile developed by the United States Air Force, with a 1000-pound penetrator/blast fragmentation conventional warhead, capable of precisely striking targets from over 300 kilometres away.

The Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for JASSM was declared in 2011, following successful test firings at the Woomera Test Range in South Australia.