The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin two production contracts worth up to $449 million for Lots 11 and 12 of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and its extended range variant. The contract includes production of 340 baseline missiles and 100 JASSM-ERs, as well as systems engineering, logistics support, tooling, and test equipment, states a Jan. 9 company release. “These contracts bring the total number of JASSM cruise missiles on contract to over 2,100, and underscore the US Air Force’s and Lockheed Martin’s commitment to the program,” said Jason Denney, program director of long range strike systems at Lockheed. The contract award follows a $34 million foreign military sales contract to integrate JASSM on to Finland’s F-18C/D aircraft. JASSM is integrated onto USAF B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16, and F-15Es. The B-1B also carries the JASSM-ER.
This year’s Association of the United States Army’s annual meeting buzzed with talk of countering the rapidly evolving drone threat facing the entire U.S. military, including the Air Force. Leaders and defense industry officials discussed the need for new approaches to procurement and employment of a new class of these…
