Posted on 03/19/2005 10:52:32 PM PST by Righty_McRight
ORLANDO, Fla., March 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT - News) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), the world's first stealthy conventional cruise missile, was successfully launched Wednesday from an F-16 aircraft and precisely navigated through its second verification flight test at White Sands Missile Range, NM. The missile successfully struck the target as planned.
JASSM successfully guided to its preplanned target using its internal global position system and inertial navigation capability. The inertial guidance system consists of an inertial navigation system combined with control mechanisms, allowing the path of a vehicle to be controlled according to the position determined by the inertial navigation system.
"We're pleased to see JASSM continuing to perform well in flight test to validate its design and enhance warfighters' confidence in it's reliability," said Col. James Geurts, JASSM program manager and commander of the Long Range Missile Systems Group at Eglin Air Force Base, FL.
"JASSM is demonstrating its operational capabilities in these tests," said Randy Bigum, vice president of Strike Weapons at Lockheed Martin. "The systems coming out of our Troy facility will enable the warfighters to complete their missions by taking out high-priority targets from well outside the range of air defenses."
Follow-on Test and Evaluation (FOT&E) will make up the majority of the remaining 2005 flight tests. Lockheed Martin plans to conduct three additional live launches, called Product Upgrade Verification flight tests, to prove out the new electronic safe-and-arm fuze and plans to end the year with the first flight testing (captive carriage and a jettison test vehicle) of the JASSM Extended Range (JASSM-ER) configuration.
Lockheed Martin's state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Troy, AL, which produces JASSM, recently expanded to support production rates of up to 40 per month. Since 1999, Lockheed Martin has produced approximately 279 JASSM missiles in Troy for use in tests, along with Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) missiles for operational use. The facility has delivered 176 missiles to the Air Force to meet inventory objectives, which include missiles for the B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-16 weapon systems.
JASSM continues to be a critical weapon for the U.S. Air Force, with the fourth production lot of 288 missiles under contract towards a total of 4,900 rounds through at least 2018. The award-winning missile factory was designed to accommodate U.S. Air Force and Foreign Military Sales production rates concurrently. JASSM is being proposed to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) for its AIR 5418 requirement. The ability to be integrated on aircraft with the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) interface has been successfully demonstrated. This provides a low-cost integration path for JASSM on multiple aircraft for both the RAAF and European Participating Air Forces (EPAF) countries.
A 2,000-pound class weapon with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM cruises autonomously in adverse weather, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker in addition to the anti-jam GPS to find a specific aimpoint on the target. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult to defend against.
The missile is planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-16 aircraft and has a range greater than 200 miles.
Headquartered in Bethesda, MD, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services.
I think I just had an er-jassm. ;)
I wonder how long until someone figures out how to get it to carry nukes.
If you want on or off my ping list, please contact me by Freep mail not by posting to this thread.
About sixteen seconds after someone needs it. :-P
Remember, we still have some small atomic demolition munitions, and we're making some smaller and simpler warheads. :)
Nice !!!!! Very nice !!!!
That cruise missle looks like its half the size of the F-16.
The missile is closer to the camera.
Per the Nuclear Posture Review in 2001, there were no plans for a nuclear Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) However, any program would have that capability...
The weapon is what it is. It kills command and control without much risk in the first strike. If we needed to bring out the "big stuff" then we just tap a different platform.
What's the point of putting stealth on a cruise missile? By the time any potential enemy knows it's coming, it'll be too late, right?
The point is to keep AWACS type airborne radars from seeing it and vectoring someone in to shoot it down. Cruise missiles come in below *surface-based* radar minimum detection altitude, but an airborne radar has no such constraints. Likewise, a fighter with a "look-down, shoot-down" IR engagement system can easily blow a standard cruise missile away if the pilot or RIO is watching for them.
An alerted enemy might guess that we're going to flip a few cruise missiles at him; it's been the SOP for the US for the past decade or so.
Thanks. Good to see we're staying a step ahead of the Commies.
This tech was originally supposed to be deployed in the mid-to-late 90s. Guess why we're just getting true stealth cruise missiles now, and who we have to blame for it.
The "alternate" idea that the responsible parties grudgingly finally accepted was the addition of radar absorbent materials to the existing cruise missile designs - not anywhere nearly as effective.
There are systmes being developed to counter cruise missiles.
A longer range cruise missile will take time to get to the target. Surprise parties are the best.
Red6
What I don't understand is why the F-15E or F-15K is left out of this list.
Going to be replaced (in theory) with the F-22. It probably *can* be carried and used on the F-15, though. The article says that it can be carried and used by anything that can use the JSOW. [shrug}
But I'd think the South Koreans will want some of these available to lauch from their F-15Ks. I don't see them buying the F-22.
Have the F-15K's been upgraded to take the JDAM and JSOW? It's a separate upgrade from the Strike Eagle package.
Yes they have. 8-) Here's a link to the articles that mention both F-15K and JDAM on Boeing's website. Below is an article from 2002 about the test of an F-15E with JDAMs. I am also including a linke to Righty's F-15K thread from Thursday.
Boeing Rolls Out First F-15K for Republic of Korea Air Force
Boeing ^ | March 16, 2005 | Boeing
F-15E Successfully Launches Five Boeing GBU-31 JDAMs on Single Sortie
ST. LOUIS, May 14, 2002 -- A U.S. Air Force F-15E has demonstrated its strike capability by launching five Boeing [NYSE: BA] GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, during testing at China Lake, Calif., successfully attacking five separate targets.
The aircraft, launched from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., was from the 416th Flight Test Squadron. The ripple release of the five, 2,000 lb. JDAMs occurred from level flight at 25,000 feet and a speed of 0.80 Mach over the target range. This was the final JDAM guided-release mission for the F-15E Smart Weapons Integration.
The JDAM has been integrated on B-1, B-2 and B-52 bombers as well as F/A-18, F-16 and now F-15E aircraft.
Boeing is currently building at its St. Louis facility 10 F-15E aircraft for the Air Force. Those will increase to 236 the total number of E models delivered. The F-15E is the most capable multirole fighter aircraft currently operated. It is capable of carrying more than 23,000 pounds of air-to-air and air-to-ground weapons and can fly at twice the speed of sound.
Last month, the Republic of Korea selected the F-15K as its F-X fighter. The F-15K is an advanced derivative of the F-15E that the U.S. Air Force operates. Production of the 40 F-15Ks will augment the 10 F-15Es now in production. The first F-15K will be delivered in 2005; the last F-15K now on order will be delivered in 2008.
Boeing is under contract for more than 50,000 JDAM kits in the GBU-31 (v) 1B/3B (2,000 lb. MK-84 general purpose (GP) / BLU-109 penetrator), GBU-32 (1,000 lb. MK-83), and GBU-35 (1,000 lb. BLU-110 GP) configurations. The GBU-38 (500 lb. MK-82 GP) JDAM is in development and undergoing flight testing. The JDAM line is producing 1,500 JDAM kits per month.
The Boeing Company is the world's largest manufacturer of satellites, commercial jetliners and military aircraft. In terms of sales, Boeing is the largest exporter in the United States. Total company revenues for 2001 were $58 billion.
Boeing Military Aircraft and Missile Systems designs, produces and provides follow-on support for fighters, bombers, transports, rotorcraft and weapons for the United States and its allies around the globe. As the world's largest military aircraft manufacturer, Boeing has delivered more than 130,000 military aircraft to the U.S. government and international customers. Among emerging businesses are unmanned systems, as well as military aircraft that are based on the company's renowned commercial airplanes.
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