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U.S. Air Force awards $112 million production contract for air-to-surface missile Dec 22, 2004 11:00 PM
Lockheed Martin has received a U.S. Air Force contract totaling more than $112 million for continued production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). 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 (Global Positioning System) to find a specific aimpoint on the target. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult to defend against. The missile, planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16 and F/A-18E/F aircraft, has a range of more than 200 miles. This first lot of full rate production, Lot 4, is for 288 missiles. Lockheed Martin was approved for Milestone III, signaling the start of full rate production, in March of 2004. Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) of Lots 1 and 2 began in late 2001 and will continue through 2004. The last 11 Lot 2 missiles are to be delivered by the end of this month. Lockheed Martin's manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala. is currently producing 11 missiles per month, and has produced up to 20 a month. Their recently expanded Troy facility is complete and will support production rates of up to 40 per month by mid-2005. Lockheed Martin has produced approximately 245 JASSM missiles in Troy since late 1999. The Troy facility has delivered 161 missiles to the Air Force to meet inventory objectives, which include 42 missiles for the B-52 required assets available in September 2003, 11 missiles to the B-2 community, 27 to the B-1 community and 25 to the F-16 community.
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