JASSM is integrated on multiple aircraft. Photo by Lockheed Martin, courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.
Lockheed Martin (LMT 0.27%) announced today it received two production contracts on Dec. 19 totaling $449 million from the U.S. Air Force. The contracts call for Lockheed Martin to continue production of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), and the extended range (ER) variant. The two contracts include production of 340 baseline missiles and 100 ER missiles.
"These contracts bring the total number of JASSM cruise missiles on contract to over 2,100, and underscore the U.S. Air Force's and Lockheed Martin's commitment to the program," said Jason Denney, program director of Long Range Strike Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, in a press release. "JASSM's high reliability and capability allow it to defeat high-value, well-defended current and future threats."
Lockheed Martin's JASSM are important weapons for the U.S. Air Force and are integrated on the B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F-15E. The 2,000-pound cruise missiles have an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System to dial into specific target points and are highly effective against valuable and well-fortified targets, according to Lockheed.
Lockheed Martin's JASSM missles are produced at a manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala., that has assembled more than 1,400 JASSM missiles toward the U.S. Air Force's objective of 4,900.
