Jassm – Back On Track?

Lockheed Martin’s US$5. 8bn (A$6. 6bn) AGM‑158A JASSM (Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile) program appears to be getting back on track after a reported recent successful test flight, the first following a program suspension in May 2007.

Four failed test flights in early 2007, including three tests which impacted more than 30 metres from the intended target area and a fourth which hit the target but failed to detonate, had thrown the future of the program into doubt. The three misses were traced to a GPS “dropout problem” which somewhat ironically was caused by the weapon’s GPS Selective Availability Anti- Spoofing Module (SAASM) being located too close to the GPS guidance unit, while the fourth was attributed to a fusing error. The four weapons were launched from two B-52Hs and two B-2 bombers over the Utah test range near Hill AFB. Of most concern for the weapon’s chief customer, the USAF and, by default, the RAAF which has ordered JASSMs to arm its ‘classic’ F/A-18A/B Hornets under Air 5418, was the fact the weapons used for the Weapon System Evaluation Program (WSEP) test flights were reportedly randomly selected from the first four full-rate production lots, indicating the faults are widespread rather than just being restricted to a ‘bad batch’.