JASSM news

Lockheed Martin's JASSM destroys hardened target

5 June 2001



The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) has been successfully demonstrated in an end-to-end demonstration by destroying a concrete bunker in a flight test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico last week.

The missile, made by Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, was launched from a US Air Force B-52 bomber flying at Mach 0.85 at an altitude of 30,000 ft. mean sea level above the New Mexico desert. After the weapon was released, it deployed its wings and tail and autonomously navigated itself to the pre-mission planned, hardened bunker target. The missile flew for 23 minutes, navigated through 10 waypoints and travelled approximately 195 miles.

To strike the target, JASSM used its integrated inertial guidance unit/global positioning system (GPS) to navigate a preplanned route to the target area. Once in the target area, JASSM used its imaging infrared seeker and on-board, real-time automatic target correlator algorithms to precisely locate and guide the missile to the desired target aimpoint. The live warhead penetrated the concrete roof of the bunker and detonated inside, destroying the target.

JASSM has now completed 22 flights: 6 powered; 4 unpowered; and 12 jettisons. This latestflight was designed to demonstrate JASSM system performance by defeating a hardened target and testing a production representative missile from the B-52 aircraft platform.

Each development test flight will be an end-to-end test, with successive tests demonstrating performance against a broader target set, and from two aircraft platforms (F-16 and B-52). To cut down on production price, Lockheed Martin has made the necessary investment to produce development missiles on production tooling. The test vehicle for this mission was the eighth vehicle built on production tooling at Lockheed Martin's Troy, Ala., facility.

"The success of today's test on the B-52 also brings the programme closer to its platform integration goals," said Larry Lawson, vice president of Strike Weapons at Lockheed Martin. "We are showing that JASSM is the weapon of choice against a varied target set and will be operational on B-2, B-52, B-1, F-16 and F/A-18 E/F aircraft.

"This B-52 test, once again, puts all the elements together for a JASSM mission," said Brigadier General Randall K. Bigum, Director of Requirements at Air Force Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va. "The mission demonstrated the long range, precision and lethality that JASSM brings to the warfighter. This was the first launch of a full-up, live JASSM round from a bomber platform. We ... look forward to starting low rate initial production (LRIP) in the fourth quarter of this year."

In the previous live warhead flight test (DT-2), JASSM established the missile's ability to fly to, hit, and destroy surface targets when launched from an F-16 Fighting Falcon.

One of the Department of Defense's highest priority programmes, JASSM is designed to give Air Force and Navy pilots long-range standoff capability against a wide array of high value, heavily defended targets. Its anti-jam GPS satellite navigation system, infrared seeker, 1,000-pound penetrator warhead, and stealth airframe make it extremely difficult to defend against.


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JASSM destroys hardened target in test

19 December 2001

Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) provided another demonstration of its operational effectiveness when it destroyed a hardened bunker target in a flight test on Saturday.

The test, at the Western Test Range in Nevada, was typical of an Air Force operational attack on a high value target. The missile was launched from a B-52 Stratofortress at an altitude of 24,000 feet and flew autonomously to the mission planned target. It used its seeker to provide precision guidance and destroy the target.

JASSM is a 2000-pound class weapon with a multi-purpose penetrator warhead. It is planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16, and F/A-18 aircraft. JASSM gives Air Force and Navy aircrews long-range capability against a wide range of high value, heavily defended targets.

"We understand how critical JASSM's capabilities are to the Air Force," said Larry Lawson, Vice President of Strike Weapons at Lockheed Martin. "Being able to destroy hardened targets from long range is important to the Air Force. This test shows that JASSM is capable against these target types as well."

Saturday's seventh development test was designed to validate JASSM system performance and warhead effectiveness. There will be one more development test in early 2002, then the programme will begin the Independent Operational Test and Evaluation (IOT&E) series.

"With the success of this test, the baseline JASSM development programme will be complete following our final test early next year," said Colonel Tim Moore, JASSM Joint Programme Office programme manager. "We have clearly demonstrated that the missile exceeds the operational requirements. Completion of development testing positions JASSM for success during the operational testing phase."


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