By Marc Selinger
07/21/2004 09:04:37 AM
FARNBOROUGH, England - Lockheed Martin Corp. is spending millions of dollars of its own money to develop two new air-to-surface, standoff cruise missiles for stealthy fighter aircraft.
Randall Bigum, vice president for strike weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Orlando, said at the Farnborough Air Show July 20 that the company has begun pursuing such capabilities because it believes the Defense Department eventually will want them.
"I'm actually trying to get out in front of what I believe is a need that the warfighter is going to ask for," he told The DAILY.
The Air Force and Navy already are buying Lockheed Martin's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), but the large, stealthy standoff cruise missile (shown) will not fit inside the internal weapons bays of two planned new stealth fighters, the Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor and the multiservice F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. To allow internal carriage, which is needed to preserve the stealth of the aircraft, Lockheed Martin is developing a "shrunk JASSM" that still would carry the same 1,000-pound warhead of the original JASSM, Bigum said.
"We think we can get the 1,000-pound warhead in there," he said.
SMACM eyed
Lockheed Martin still is determining whether the shrunk JASSM would match JASSM's range of more than 200 nautical miles.
Lockheed Martin also is working on a Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM), which would be even smaller than the shrunk JASSM and would provide a loitering capability in addition to being a standoff munition. It would have a smaller warhead than JASSM but the same range of 200-plus nautical miles. Lockheed Martin projects the F/A-22 could internally carry eight SMACMs or two shrunk JASSMs.
For SMACM's seeker, Lockheed Martin is considering borrowing technology from its Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) or its Joint Common Missile.
SMACM is slated to begin flight testing in 2005. Flight testing for the shrunk JASSM probably is about two years away.
Bigum said Lockheed Martin's efforts are separate from the Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM), which the Air Force has been exploring to give stealthy fighters a JASSM-like capability combined with an air-to-air capability (DAILY, April 16).
Lockheed Martin continues work on another company-funded effort to develop JASSM-XR, the extra-extended-range variant of JASSM. JASSM-XR, which only bomber aircraft could carry, would be able to fly more than 1,000 miles, doubling the range of JASSM-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), which doubled the range of the original JASSM (DAILY, April 7). JASSM-XR is slated to enter flight testing in early 2006.
Beyond cruise missiles, Lockheed Martin also is working on the Long Shot wing kit, which would convert "dumb" bombs of 1,000 pounds or less into satellite-guided munitions. Although Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) already provides a similar capability, Long Shot would avoid the kinds of expensive modifications that aircraft often need to use JDAM, Bigum said.
Lockheed Martin's wing kit has generated significant international interest, according to Bigum.
"I have two handfuls of countries that want me to come talk to them about Long Shot," he said.
OSINT alert No link provided
07/21/2004 09:04:37 AM
FARNBOROUGH, England - Lockheed Martin Corp. is spending millions of dollars of its own money to develop two new air-to-surface, standoff cruise missiles for stealthy fighter aircraft.
Randall Bigum, vice president for strike weapons at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control-Orlando, said at the Farnborough Air Show July 20 that the company has begun pursuing such capabilities because it believes the Defense Department eventually will want them.
"I'm actually trying to get out in front of what I believe is a need that the warfighter is going to ask for," he told The DAILY.
The Air Force and Navy already are buying Lockheed Martin's Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), but the large, stealthy standoff cruise missile (shown) will not fit inside the internal weapons bays of two planned new stealth fighters, the Air Force's F/A-22 Raptor and the multiservice F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. To allow internal carriage, which is needed to preserve the stealth of the aircraft, Lockheed Martin is developing a "shrunk JASSM" that still would carry the same 1,000-pound warhead of the original JASSM, Bigum said.
"We think we can get the 1,000-pound warhead in there," he said.
SMACM eyed
Lockheed Martin still is determining whether the shrunk JASSM would match JASSM's range of more than 200 nautical miles.
Lockheed Martin also is working on a Surveilling Miniature Attack Cruise Missile (SMACM), which would be even smaller than the shrunk JASSM and would provide a loitering capability in addition to being a standoff munition. It would have a smaller warhead than JASSM but the same range of 200-plus nautical miles. Lockheed Martin projects the F/A-22 could internally carry eight SMACMs or two shrunk JASSMs.
For SMACM's seeker, Lockheed Martin is considering borrowing technology from its Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) or its Joint Common Missile.
SMACM is slated to begin flight testing in 2005. Flight testing for the shrunk JASSM probably is about two years away.
Bigum said Lockheed Martin's efforts are separate from the Joint Dual Role Air Dominance Missile (JDRADM), which the Air Force has been exploring to give stealthy fighters a JASSM-like capability combined with an air-to-air capability (DAILY, April 16).
Lockheed Martin continues work on another company-funded effort to develop JASSM-XR, the extra-extended-range variant of JASSM. JASSM-XR, which only bomber aircraft could carry, would be able to fly more than 1,000 miles, doubling the range of JASSM-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), which doubled the range of the original JASSM (DAILY, April 7). JASSM-XR is slated to enter flight testing in early 2006.
Beyond cruise missiles, Lockheed Martin also is working on the Long Shot wing kit, which would convert "dumb" bombs of 1,000 pounds or less into satellite-guided munitions. Although Boeing's Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) already provides a similar capability, Long Shot would avoid the kinds of expensive modifications that aircraft often need to use JDAM, Bigum said.
Lockheed Martin's wing kit has generated significant international interest, according to Bigum.
"I have two handfuls of countries that want me to come talk to them about Long Shot," he said.
OSINT alert No link provided