FORT WORTH, Texas: Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace and Lockheed Martin have entered into a cooperative agreement with the objective of integrating the Joint Strike Missile on the F-35 Lightning II, also known as the Joint Strike Fighter. Following integration and certification, the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), could be carried internally and externally on the F-35.
The JSM is a new missile that builds on the mature Naval Strike Missile technology, which is currently in production for the Royal Norwegian Navy and the Polish Navy. The Norwegian MoD awarded a contract to Kongsberg in April 2009 for the first phase of the JSM development.
The agreement signed today follows on to the Joint Marketing Agreement from 2007. The Joint Marketing Agreement resulted in the development contract for the first phase of the JSM program and U.S. Government decision to include the JSM as a candidate in its future efforts to provide the F-35 with air-to-surface warfare capability.
Steve O’Bryan, Vice President of Business Development for Lockheed Martin, said, “The JSM will fulfill the advanced air-to-surface warfare mission capability with a missile that can be carried in each weapons bay of the F-35 A/C. Through this agreement, we at Lockheed Martin are committing ourselves to bring the JSM’s crucial capabilities to F-35 operators.”
Harald Ånnestad, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace noted that this agreement “is a joint commitment of Lockheed Martin and Kongsberg to provide the F-35 partner countries with the required capabilities.”
The agreement will carry this effort further as the two companies coordinate their business development and engineering efforts to offer a high-performance, low-risk defence capability that takes full advantage of the F-35’s attributes.
The 1,000-pound, stealthy and highly maneuverable anti-ship missile has the capability to strike sea and land targets. It employs Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System (GPS/INS) guidance with a unique imaging infrared seeker, in-flight data link and an automatic target recognizer (ATR). The missile has a range in excess of 150 nautical miles.
The agreement will benefit the warfighter by combining the strength and experience of Lockheed Martin and Kongsberg to develop and market a new capability. Kongsberg has strong experience in anti-ship missiles, weapons integration, target recognition software and mission planning systems.
The stealthy F-35 is a supersonic, multi-role 5th Generation fighter designed to replace a wide range of existing aircraft, including the AV-8B Harrier, A-10, F-16, F/A-18 Hornet and United Kingdom Harrier GR.7 and Sea Harrier.
