JASSM Flies Through First Engineering and Manufacturing Development Separation Test
ORLANDO, FL, May 23rd, 2000 -- Earlier this month, the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) team successfully accomplished its first Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) Separation Test at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
Launched from a U.S. Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcon at 0.8 Mach and 21,500 feet above White Sands Missile Range, the advanced cruise missile successfully separated from the F-16, deployed its wings and tail, released its wedges, and flew a stable and controlled flight. The flight contained both high-speed maneuvers and stability and control maneuvers. Flight objectives also included Bomb Impact Assessment (BIA) transmission system evaluation.
This test followed shortly after JASSM made its public debut April 25 during a rollout ceremony at Lockheed Martin Corporation's Troy, Alabama, facility. A crowd of senior military, government, and industry officials witnessed the unveiling of America's next generation of long-range cruise missiles.
One of the Department of Defense's highest priority programs, 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 Global Position Satellite navigation system, state-of-the-art infrared seeker, 1000-pound penetrator warhead, and stealth airframe make it virtually impossible to defend against. Pilots will be able to launch the missile from well outside the range of enemy air defenses, and it will cruise autonomously in weather, day or night, with pinpoint accuracy to its target. The 2,250-pound, 14-foot long missile is designed to be launched from the F-16, B-52, F/A-18, B-1, and B-2.
Air Combat Command commander, General John Jumper, keynote speaker at the rollout ceremony, praised Eglin and Lockheed personnel responsible for JASSM's development. During last year's Kosovo Air Campaign, he was commander of United States Air Forces in Europe and described the dangerous air defense environment that American and allied aviators were exposed to. "This (JASSM) is not just something that represents standoff, it is something that represents an increase in capability that's going to give these aviators who give so selflessly of themselves a chance to do their jobs safer, more effectively and more efficiently," Jumper said.
Located in Dallas, Tx.. and Orlando, Fla., Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, a world leader in electro-optics, smart munitions, advanced combat, missile, rocket and space systems, is an operating element of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration business unit based in Bethesda, Maryland.
Nettie Johnson, 407-356-5351
e-mail nettie.r.johnson@lmco.com
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