Free Republic

Lockheed seeks Hellfire's successor By Richard Burnett, Orlando Sentinel 10:19 PM EDT, June 12, 2011 Lockheed Martin Corp. is playing the "jobs card" as it seeks to counter the budget-cutting climate in Washington. Earlier this month, the nation's largest military contractor brought a contingent of company executives to its missiles unit in south Orlando to tout the economic benefits of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program in Central Florida (525 jobs and $800 million annually). At a record cost approaching $1 trillion (a congressional figure that Lockheed disputes), the F-35 stealth jet is the frequent target of congressional budget-cutting proposals....

Raytheon and Boeing have completed wind tunnel testing of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile. The test proved the team's JAGM can be flown and employed from the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet's outboard wing station. "The warfighter can place a full Raytheon-Boeing JAGM missile load on the outer wing stations, enabling the system to safely exceed the objective load-out requirement on the Super Hornet," said Bob Francois, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems. The Raytheon-Boeing offering features a Boeing body and warhead combined with a Raytheon tri-mode seeker. The tri-mode seeker, which leverages the same technology used on the...

Raytheon Company and The Boeing Company completed a series of captive flight tests for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile competition. The tests prove the system is ready for guided test shots. "The Raytheon-Boeing JAGM is a mature, capable system. We have proved the technical readiness of this superior warfighting solution," said Bob Francois, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems product line. "JAGM meets the warfighter's needs and is affordable across the acquisition spectrum including development, operations and support costs." JAGM will replace three legacy missiles currently in the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps inventory. The...