Article Posted on : - Nov 17, 2010

A file photo.

ORLANDO (BNS): Two successful test firing of Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range (JASSM-ER) systems being developed for the US Air Force have paved the way for the production of the weapon system by Lockheed Martin in near future.

The missile tests, conducted recently at the White Sands Missile Range, in New Mexico, have increased the JASSM-ER programme’s success rate to 91 percent in 11 flight tests, Lockheed, the missile’s manufacturer, said.

During the test, the live 2000-pound missiles were fired from on board the USAF’s B-1B bombers and effectively navigated to and destroyed their intended targets.

While the first JASSM-ER missile was released from an altitude of 13,000 feet and a speed of 0.72 Mach, the second missile was released from 30,000 feet at 0.88 Mach, the company said.

The primary objectives of the tests were to demonstrate end-to-end system performance while exercising the missile’s alternate terminal engagement profile and Time-on-Target (TOT) mode – the ability to control time of flight to engage time critical targets.

During the TOT first-time event for JASSM-ER, the missile adjusted its cruising speed throughout the flight profile based on winds and other atmospheric data.

Lockheed now expects to receive a contract by January 2011from the US Air Force to produce 30 JASSM-ER missiles.
The Initial Operational Test & Evaluation phase, comprising 16 flights, would commence in the second quarter of 2011, with production missile deliveries beginning in late 2012, it said.

The JASSM-ER is an upgraded version of the original JASSM system.

The JASSM is an autonomous, long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision standoff cruise missile. It is designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and relocatable targets. The weapon uses a state-of-the-art infrared seeker and anti-jam GPS to focus on its target.

The JASSM flies at subsonic speed and carries 450 kg penetrator/blast fragmentation warhead. It has been test launched from numerous platforms including the B-1, B-2 and F-16 aircraft. Its future platforms include F-15E, F/A-18 and F-35 fighter aircraft.

The JASSM-ER is more than two-and-a-half times the range of its predecessor.

The US Air Force plans to acquire 4,900 JASSMs and its longer range JASSM-ER.