Pentagon ready for mass production of JAGM air-to-ground guided missiles to replace Hellfire and Maveric for F-35 Lightning II, F/A-18 Super Hornet, Apache, Gray Eagle and SkyWarrior
The U.S. Department of Defense is finally ready to begin mass production of air-to-ground missiles, which will replace the Hellfire and Maverick missiles.
Here's What We Know
The U.S. Army and Marine Corps worked on the missile. The decision to start mass production of Joint Air-to-Ground Missile was made on August 30, 2021. However, it had to be postponed due to unsatisfactory results during the test launches to destroy sea targets.
The Joint Air-to-Ground Missile has passed operational tests with the U.S. Army's AH-64E Apache helicopter and the Marine Corps' AH-1Z Viper. It will replace the Hellfire and Maverick, and Lockheed Martin will produce the new missile.
The one-year delay did not affect the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile program. As planned, in addition to the aforementioned helicopters, the new missile will be used by medium-range air defense systems, drones such as the Gray Eagle or SkyWarrior, as well as the F-35 Lightning II and F/A818 Super E/F Hornet fighters.
The Joint Air-to-Ground Missile has a launch range of 8 km. Now Lockheed Martin is working to increase the range up to 16 km without changing the dimensions of the missile.
Source: Defense News
Image: Lockheed Martin