The Air Force intends to procure an additional 447 extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, but is also reducing its JASSM baseline buy by the same amount, according to the Defense Department’s latest selected acquisition report presented to Congress last week. The move increases the cost of the JASSM-ER program by $653.6 million, or 17.4 percent, to $4.4 billion and brings the total number of extended-range missiles that the service wants to 2,947 from 2,500, states the May 23 report. The total number of JASSM baseline missiles decreases from 2,400 to 1,953, reducing the cost of the baseline buy by $641.5 million to $2.9 billion, states the report. The Air Force plans to complete its baseline buy in Fiscal 2016, transitioning to all JASSM-ER procurement in Fiscal 2017, states the report.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…