The US Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin over $1 billion in contracts to produce two key missile systems.
The first $750.5 million contract covers the production of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) B-2 for Australia through August 2027.
The foreign military sales contract includes containers, tooling, test equipment, and spares.
The second $443.7 million contract involves producing Lot 7 of the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) for the US Air Force and US Navy through January 2027.
Pentagon to Ramp Up Missile Procurement
The development comes after reports that the Pentagon has been considering ramping up the procurement of the two long-range missiles.
“Over the course of the multi-year, we will double production from where we are today, which is a little over 500 combined LRASM and JASSM, to well over a thousand combined LRASM and JASSM,” Naval News quoted Lockheed Martin’s Dominic DeScisciolo as saying.
DeScisciolo also revealed that Lockheed had opened a second production line to meet the increased demand for the missile.
Long-Range Missiles
The anti-ship LRASM is based on the air-to-ground JASSM, sharing several common components with the US Air Force missile.
The LRSM can strike naval targets 350 miles (560 kilometers) away, while the JASSM has a range of 370 kilometers (230 miles), twice the range of its previous version.
