Lockheed Martin has been given clearance by the US Government to offer the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (JASSM) in Australia's stand-off weapon competition. The move comes shortly after a first powered test flight for the weapon.
Australian officials had pressured the Clinton Administration to allow Lockheed Martin to enter the Air 5418 competition. As a result, Australia will be the first country to get access to a weapon several years away from entering service with the USAir Force.
USAF JASSM programme manager Terry Little says the missile has been approved for sale to the Royal Australian Air Force, but with some unspecified conditions attached to the offer. "Lockheed Martin is offering a version of the JASSM tailored to Australia's specific requirements," he says.
Australia has also received bids from an Israeli Military Industries/ Matra BAe Dynamics team offering the Delilah II, Boeing with the SLAM-ER and Land Attack Harpoon, Taurus Systems with the KEPD350 and Raytheon with HARM Block 6 and a powered version of the Joint Stand-Off Weapon. The winner is due to enter service on General Dynamics F-111 and Lockheed Martin AP-3C Orions in late 2005.
During the JASSM's first powered flight on 23 November, the weapon flew for 22min after wing and tail deployment. It performed attack mission manoeuvres before hitting the ground within the lethal range of its warhead. "Everything went as planned," says Little. A further 18 flight tests are set for 2000.
Despite the success of the test, technical issues with the weapon's Teledyne J402 turbojet and other problems have delayed a low-rate initial production decision by 10 months, to November 2001.
Source: Flight International
