The extended-range variant of the stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile completed operational testing and has been cleared to enter full-rate production, announced builder Lockheed Martin on Monday. “The full-rate production decision demonstrates that our customer, at all levels of the US Air Force, has confidence in JASSM-ER,” said Jason Denney, the company’s long-range strike systems director. The weapon successfully struck 20 out of 21 targets, scoring a 95 percent hit rate, in operational test and evaluation that wrapped up last year, according to the company. JASSM-ER boasts two-and a half times the range of the standard JASSM, providing “warfighters with a first-day, first-strike capability in an anti-access, area-denial environment,” said Denney. It is cleared for use on the B-1B, while the baseline JASSM has been integrated with the B-1B, B-2A, B-52H, F-16 and F-15E. The Air Force earlier this year tasked Lockheed Martin to build 100 extended-range JASSMs during JASSM production lots 11 and 12, which also include orders for the baseline variant.
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
