Article Posted on : - Dec 23, 2014

ORLANDO, FLORIDA (BNS): The US Air Force has approved full rate production for Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range (JASSM-ER).

JASSM-ER successfully completed US Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) flight testing in 2013.

During IOT&E, the programme had a 95 percent success rate, scoring 20 successes in 21 flights. Lots 11 and 12 of the JASSM contract awarded in December 2013 included 100 ER missiles, the Company said.

Armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, JASSM and JASSM-ER cruise autonomously day or night in all weather conditions.

Both missiles share the same powerful capabilities and stealthy characteristics, though JASSM-ER has more than two-and-a-half times the range of the baseline JASSM for greater standoff margin.

These 2,000-pound cruise missiles employ an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver to dial into specific target aimpoints.

JASSM and JASSM-ER are critical weapons for the US Air Force. Extremely effective against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocatable targets, the stealthy JASSM-ER is integrated on the US Air Force's B-1B.

JASSM is integrated on the US Air Force's B-2, B-52, F-16, F-15E, and internationally, on the Royal Australian Air Forces F/A-18A/B.