The Long Range Missile Systems Group at Eglin AFB, Fla., and Lockheed Martin recently completed a successful first ground test of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range. According to the Eglin Eagle, the test at the new ground facility went flawlessly and gave the Air Force a good opportunity to monitor many of the missile’s subsystems in operation throughout the flight profile. USAF expects to field the JASSM-ER—with a range greater than 500 nautical miles compared to 200 NM for basic JASSM—on B-1B bombers in 2008. Developmental flight test is set for this spring.
With the Air Force in the midst of its biggest testing boom in decades, the Maintenance Operational Test (MxOT) Division at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., is making sure those tests include an often-overlooked perspective: that of maintainers.