The Air Force and Lockheed Martin conducted the first development flight test of the new extended range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile last week. A B-1B bomber successfully fired the JASSM-ER over White Sands Missile Range, N.M., where the missile flew more than 400 nautical miles to its target. Calling the system “remarkable,” Col. John Griggs, commander of the 308th Armament Systems Group, Eglin AFB, Fla., said the development of an extended range JASSM was a “low-risk, low-cost upgrade.” The ER version can travel more than 500 nautical miles—compared to the basic missile’s 200-nm range—and is accurate to within three meters. Flight tests are slated to run through December 2008.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…
