The U.S. Air Force has announced the issuance of a notice of intent for the procurement of 11,200 AGM-158B/B2 JASSM air-to-surface cruise missiles and AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship cruise missiles…
A total of 11,200 AGM-158B/B2 JASSM and LRASM missiles are projected to be procured over a 5-7 year period.
The procurement program covers production lots 27-33 for the JASSM family, and lots 13-19 for the LRASM.
Compared to the AGM-158A model, the AGM-158B/B2 utilizes a turbofan engine with higher thrust and increased fuel capacity. Thanks to these improvements, the maximum range of the AGM-158B missile has been increased from 370 kilometers to 925 kilometers.
The total weight of the missile is approximately 2,300 kilograms, 910 kilograms of which constitutes the warhead.
The AGM-158B2 configuration includes improvements such as a redesigned wing structure, a new missile control unit, upgraded mission software, a safer fuze system, and a GPS receiver more resistant to electronic jamming. With this modernization package, the system’s maximum range reaches approximately 1,900 kilometers.
The AGM-158C LRASM is a long-range anti-ship cruise missile developed based on the JASSM platform. The system is equipped with an electronic support measures (ESM) system in addition to inertial navigation (INS) and GPS-based guidance.
In the terminal phase, it utilizes an imaging infrared (IIR) seeker to provide target detection, identification, and high-precision engagement. The missile has a total weight of approximately 1,250 kilograms, a length of 4.26 meters, and a wingspan of 2.7 meters. The weapon system carries a 454-kilogram WDU-42/B high-explosive blast-fragmentation warhead…