JASSM achieves success in reliability flight tests

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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM, successfully completed Lot 7 Reliability Assessment Program flight tests with a record of 15 successes out of 16 flights as officially scored by the independent test data scoring board Oct. 22. 

The tests were conducted by the U.S. Air Force at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., from Sept. 10 - Oct. 4, 2009, using B-52 bombers from Barksdale AFB, La., and F-16 fighters from Eglin against a wide range of targets in various operational scenarios.

"The government/Lockheed Martin team has determined the most probable root causes of previous Lot 5 failures and implemented effective corrective actions in the Lot 7 missiles," said Col. Steve Demers, JASSM Program Manager and 308th Armament Systems Group commander. "It's very satisfying to see the results of the team's intense and persevering efforts. I couldn't be more proud of our JASSM team or the impressive missile we've built for the warfighter!"

"As a result of these tests, I think the team has proven they did a very good job diagnosing and correcting the failures from previous shots," said Maj. Gen. Charles Davis, Air Force Program Executive Officer for Weapons and Air Armament Center commander.

"This successful flight test series verifies JASSM as a reliable weapon system, and underscores the Air Force's and Lockheed Martin's commitment to the program," said Alan Jackson, JASSM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "We are very confident in the missile and worked closely with our suppliers to drive quality into every phase of the missile's manufacturing process. No other system provides the capability of JASSM."

The successful tests pave the way for awarding the Lot 8 production contract, allowing Lockheed Martin and the Air Force to provide JASSM's critically important capabilities to our warfighters. JASSM was certified to Congress as essential to the nation's national security by the Joint Requirements Oversight Council in May of 2007.

JASSM is the nation's only stealthy, conventional, precision, launch-and-leave, standoff missile capable of being launched from fighter and bomber aircraft. A 2,000-pound class weapon with a highly lethal combination penetrator/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 defeat putting adversary's center-of-gravity targets at risk even if protected by next-generation air defense systems.

The baseline JASSM has a range of over 200 nautical miles and has achieved initial operations capability on the B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-16. The extended range version has a range of more than 500 nautical miles and shares approximately 70 percent common parts with the baseline variant. JASSM-ER is already integrated onto the B-1 Lancer and is scheduled to declare IOC in Fiscal Year 2013.