In a pair of major contracts announced July 31, the Pentagon awarded a combined $7.8 billion for new missiles, including JASSM and AMRAAM.
JASSM
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.
The Cold War Air Force was bigger, deeper, and readier than today’s. Here’s why it’s time for a reset. For the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States faces a true peer potential adversary in...
Why retiring the B-1 too soon could undermine U.S. security. The U.S. Air Force plans to start retiring the B-1 Lancer fleet to make room for the new, sixth-generation B-21 Raider. But the Air Force is planning to do that...
Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control received a $122.6 million installment on an ongoing contract to improve production of the AGM-158 JASSM/LRASM stealth missiles, the Pentagon announced March 14. The weapons have become the key standoff munitions for USAF’s combat air forces.
Lockheed Martin is offering a low-cost air vehicle it calls a flying "truck" that could be a cruise missile or sensor platform, intended to be the "low end" complement to the high-end JASSM/LRASM stealth cruise missiles, and help the Air Force achieve "affordable mass" in ...
Lockheed Martin received two Air Force contracts on Sept. 27, together worth $3.56 billion, for production of the AGM-58B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile and the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile, the Pentagon announced. The contracts include missiles for the Air Force, Navy, and partner nations under ...
New B-1 Pylon Creates ‘Hypersonic Testbed’ By John A. Tirpak The Air Force has begun using a new Boeing pylon to test a variety of weapons on the B-1 Lancer, the 412th Test Wing announced in August, and now has a...
Airpower is a desired capability that everybody wants. Because it’s asymmetric, with a little bit of airpower, you can create a lot of effects.
Airmen from Barksdale Air Force Base's 2nd Bomb Wing carried out an unusual exercise June 10-13 during which they loaded AMG-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, or JASSMs, onto B-52H Stratofortresses to test their ability to conduct long-range conventional airstrike missions.
The Navy recently launched four AGM-158C-3 Long-Range Anti-Ship Missiles at once, in what’s being billed as a “graduation exercise for the latest configuration” of the stealth LRASM. The event follows closely the Air Force beginning multiyear procurement of the joint-service missile.
America’s Pacific forces want more missiles—and a lot of them—according to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command’s wish list for fiscal 2025. A standout of INDOPACOM’s unfunded priorities list—items not contained in the budget—is the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), an advanced standoff munition being developed for the Air ...
