Article Posted on : - Jan 13, 2014

Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). Photo: Lockheed Martin

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (BNS): Lockheed Martin has received a $13.3 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the U S Air Force to support additional integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) onto the Finnish Air Force F-18C/D aircraft.

This is the third contract for Finland which includes wind tunnel models and test support, software development completion, logistics support and engineering documentation.

The contract follows the $34.2 million June 2013 contract award for test missiles, software development and engineering documentation as well as tooling, process development and equipment for facility expansion.

The first contract, awarded in 2012, initiated the six-year integration, production and sustainment effort. The programme is a joint effort between the U S Navy, U S Air Force, Lockheed Martin and the Finnish Air Force.

JASSM has met several recent milestones, including successful completion of the Lot 6 Reliability Assessment Programme and completion of the JASSM-ER initial operational test and evaluation programme, which resulted in recommendation for full-rate production.

JASSM is an autonomous, air-to-ground, precision-guided standoff missile designed to meet the needs of U S and allied warfighters. Armed with a penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM cruises autonomously, day or night in all weather conditions. The missile employs an infrared seeker and enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System to find specific points on targets.

The stealthy JASSM is integrated on the U S Air Force's B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. Internationally, JASSM is certified on the F/A-18A/B for the Royal Australian Air Force.