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Lockheed Martin JASSM Approved for Low Rate Initial Production

Stealthy Missile to go Into Air Force Operational Inventory

ORLANDO, FL, December 31st, 2001 -- The Defense Department recently approved Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) for low rate initial production (LRIP). The stealthy missile is produced in the company's advanced production facility located in Troy, Ala.

"JASSM has clearly met all the requirements of the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) to move into the next phase," said Terry Little, JASSM Air Force program director. "The successful test program has proven that the system will perform as required and we are now ready to make it available to the our warfighters."

The production award moves JASSM closer to being fielded by the Air Force. When in use, the missile provides aircrews the ability to strike high value, heavily defended targets from outside the range of enemy air defenses.

"The JASSM LRIP award is a significant milestone which recognizes the demonstrated capability of the system," said Larry Lawson, vice president of Strike Weapons for Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "This achievement is the culmination of a tremendous team effort focused on providing an affordable, high performance cruise missile to the Air Force in a very short time. We are proud to be part of this team."

Pike County Operations, the Lockheed Martin facility in Troy, will begin production on the systems immediately. Missiles used in tests have been produced at Troy, therefore the factory is fully equipped and staffed for this production phase. "Our crews have been building the JASSM in Troy since early in 2000, so we can hit the ground running with this LRIP contract," said Mike Inderhees, JASSM program director at Lockheed Martin. "We've streamlined our production processes and can easily meet the required production rates."

JASSM is a 2000-pound class weapon with a multi-purpose penetrator warhead. It is planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, B-52, F-16, and F/A-18 aircraft. JASSM gives Air Force and Navy aircrews long-range capability against a wide range of high value, heavily defended targets. It cruises autonomously in adverse weather, day or night, defeating the target with pinpoint accuracy. Its anti-jam GPS satellite navigation system, state-of-the-art infrared seeker, and stealth airframe make it extremely difficult to defend against.

Employing more than 8,500 people, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, with additional base operations in Orlando, Fla., and manufacturing and assembly facilities in Sunnyvale, Calif., Chelmsford, Mass., Camden, Ark., Horizon City and Lufkin, Texas, Ocala, Fla., White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and Troy, Ala. The company is a business unit of Lockheed Martin Systems Integration in Bethesda, Md.

Nettie Johnson, 407-356-5351
e-mail nettie.r.johnson@lmco.com