Lockheed Martin agreed to develop and integrate the Turkish SOM-J medium-range cruise missile onto the F-35 Lightning II in partnership with weapons firm Roketsan, the company announced. “SOM-J integration on the F-35 will enable pilots to engage targets from long ranges while maintaining the aircraft’s critical stealth capabilities,” company missile vice president Frank St. John said in a release. SOM-J is a smaller GPS-guided version of a medium-range conventional cruise missile currently integrated on the Turkish air force F-16 fleet. The weapon incorporates a 500-pound warhead and is capable of striking targets in excess of 100 miles away using terrain-following inertial navigation, and an infrared target seeker, according to the company. The agreement paves the way for SOM-J export sales to other international F-35 customers. Lockheed is also cooperating with Norwegian company Konigsberg, which is developing the Joint Strike Missile for the F-35.
A newly-released Air Force plan to replace the C-5 and C-17 airlifters with a single airplane type called the Next-Generation Air Lifter (NGAL) will keep those fleets in service another 20 and 50 years, respectively. The plan will likely require a service life extension for the C-17 fleet.
