WALPOLE, Mass. --- The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) reached a major milestone when both the JASSM Joint Program Office and the B-52 Systems Program Office certified JASSM meets warfighter requirements and is ready for operational use. This declaration precedes the warfighter certification of the Initial Operational Capability, which is owned by Air Combat Command.
JASSM is a 2,000-pound class weapon with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult for enemy defenses to successfully defeat. In addition to the B-52, the missile is planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft and has a range greater than 200 miles.
JASSM is developed by Lockheed Martin with a team of key suppliers including Fiber Innovations, who supply the composite fuselage and other structural components. “We are very proud of the commitment we have seen from the entire JASSM team. JASSM key suppliers, our electronics and seekers production team in Ocala, Fla., and the Troy production team made their commitments early. When the state-of-the-art facility reaches full-rate production of JASSM, it will produce approximately one missile each day and is currently scheduled to continue producing JASSMs until 2014,†said Mike Inderhees, JASSM program director at Lockheed Martin.
Most of the surface area and load bearing structure of JASSM is manufactured using a braided composite process to place fibers in their proper orientation and shape. The majority of these parts are then molded using the Vacuum-assisted Resin Transfer Molding, or VaR, process. Carbon fabric reinforcements and conventional RTM processing are also used to manufacture almost 50% of the other composite flight hardware for JASSM.
Cost savings were accomplished by developing net-shaped preforms for fuselage components, and improving the net edge molding of the upper and lower composite fuselage. Other cost reduction factors include improved inner mold line dimensional control and optimizing the resin infusion through automated temperature and pressure controls. Working with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing Technology Division and Lockheed Martin, Fiber Innovations developed composite manufacturing methods that will save more than $19 million over the production life of the missile.
According to Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. James G. Roche, “JASSM is one of our flagship programs for acquisition excellence. Not only will our combat forces get an unprecedented precision attack capability, but taxpayers will benefit from affordability gains never before achieved on a cruise missile program.â€
The U.S. Air Force expects to procure 3,700 JASSMs over the life of the program, while the U.S. Navy’s initial procurement of 453 JASSMs starts in FY 2007. JASSM composite production at Fiber Innovations’ Massachusetts plant will increase from 15 people today to 50 people when the program reaches full rate production.
Fiber Innovations is a qualified supplier of composite structures for aerospace and defense applications. The company employs a combination of braiding and woven fabric performs with the RTM and VaR molding process to provide its customers with automated, low cost, high quality structural parts.
JASSM is a 2,000-pound class weapon with a dual-mode penetrator and blast fragmentation warhead. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult for enemy defenses to successfully defeat. In addition to the B-52, the missile is planned for deployment on B-1, B-2, F-16 and F/A-18 aircraft and has a range greater than 200 miles.
JASSM is developed by Lockheed Martin with a team of key suppliers including Fiber Innovations, who supply the composite fuselage and other structural components. “We are very proud of the commitment we have seen from the entire JASSM team. JASSM key suppliers, our electronics and seekers production team in Ocala, Fla., and the Troy production team made their commitments early. When the state-of-the-art facility reaches full-rate production of JASSM, it will produce approximately one missile each day and is currently scheduled to continue producing JASSMs until 2014,†said Mike Inderhees, JASSM program director at Lockheed Martin.
Most of the surface area and load bearing structure of JASSM is manufactured using a braided composite process to place fibers in their proper orientation and shape. The majority of these parts are then molded using the Vacuum-assisted Resin Transfer Molding, or VaR, process. Carbon fabric reinforcements and conventional RTM processing are also used to manufacture almost 50% of the other composite flight hardware for JASSM.
Cost savings were accomplished by developing net-shaped preforms for fuselage components, and improving the net edge molding of the upper and lower composite fuselage. Other cost reduction factors include improved inner mold line dimensional control and optimizing the resin infusion through automated temperature and pressure controls. Working with the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, Manufacturing Technology Division and Lockheed Martin, Fiber Innovations developed composite manufacturing methods that will save more than $19 million over the production life of the missile.
According to Secretary of the Air Force, Dr. James G. Roche, “JASSM is one of our flagship programs for acquisition excellence. Not only will our combat forces get an unprecedented precision attack capability, but taxpayers will benefit from affordability gains never before achieved on a cruise missile program.â€
The U.S. Air Force expects to procure 3,700 JASSMs over the life of the program, while the U.S. Navy’s initial procurement of 453 JASSMs starts in FY 2007. JASSM composite production at Fiber Innovations’ Massachusetts plant will increase from 15 people today to 50 people when the program reaches full rate production.
Fiber Innovations is a qualified supplier of composite structures for aerospace and defense applications. The company employs a combination of braiding and woven fabric performs with the RTM and VaR molding process to provide its customers with automated, low cost, high quality structural parts.