Lockheed sees Poland missile deal as opportunity to expand international sales (JASSM)

Washington Business Journal ^ | Sep 14, 2015 | James Bach

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Bethesda-based Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT) announced Monday that it is selling 40 of its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) to the Polish Air Force.

And what’s exciting is not that Lockheed is delivering on this sale — the terms of which were defined in a $500 million foreign military sales case approved by the Department of Defense in Sept. 2014 — but that it has the potential to expand sales of the JASSM’s longer-range variation to international customers.

This current $500 million deal that includes the sale of 40 JASSMs, with an undefined number of potential follow-on sales beyond that figure, is a part of NATO ally Poland’s efforts to stiffen its defenses in the face of unrest in Russia and Ukraine.

The Polish Air Force will integrate the JASSMs into its F-16 fleet — of which has 36 active combat aircraft, according to Flight International.

But these purchases are all looking to fill an immediate defense need. Lockheed sees an opportunity to play the long game and expand its missile sales to Poland and beyond with this deal.

The JASSM is identical in size and capability to the JASSM-Extended Range. It can be outfitted to the same F-16 aircraft. However, the JASSM-ER has a more fuel-efficient design — powered by a turbo-fan engine rather than a turbo-jet engine — and can travel more than twice the distance of the JASSM.

“JASSM and JASSM-ER are the exact same size weapon, which makes it convenient for integrating JASSM-ER on existing platforms that the basic JASSM is on,” said Alan Jackson, director for strike systems at Lockheed Martin.

“This is a prime opportunity to go ahead and integrate both weapons on that aircraft at the same time.” Jackson said public statements indicate Poland shows interest in procuring JASSM-ER, but has yet to lodge a formal request. The JASSM-ER has not been cleared by the U.S. Department of Defense for foreign export.

“Poland will have to take the next step — to take their publicly stated interest in JASSM-ER — to turn that into a formal request,” Jackson said. And it could go beyond just Poland.

This is the third sales effort by Lockheed to outfit foreign air force fleets with JASSM. The defense giant has already helped Australia integrate JASSM into its F-18 fleet, and is in the process of doing the same for Finland.

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LOCKHEED MARTIN CORP.