Lockheed Martin may receive $4.5bn to produce AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-179 JAGM missiles

Lockheed Martin has signed a multi-year contract to produce the AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM). The agreement is for four years.

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The US company has already received $439 million to produce the AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-179 JAGM missiles. At the same time, the contract amount may increase by more than 10 times by the fourth year and reach $4.5 billion. The number of missiles is not specified.

Lockheed Martin says that the new agreement provides maximum flexibility in the procurement of air-to-ground missiles. The customers for the AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-179 JAGM are the United States and foreign governments.

The company notes that the contract reflects a significant increase in international demand for the JAGM. Lockheed Martin also recalls that the old Hellfire missile remains in service with more than 30 nations.

In 2022, the service gave approval for full-scale production of the AGM-179 JAGM to replace the AGM-114 Hellfire. Both missiles share common parts and are being developed in Orlando, Florida, and then produced at various facilities located in the southern US.

The announcement of the new contract came after lawmakers approved the National Defence Authorisation Act for fiscal year 2023 and gave the services new multi-year authority to purchase "certain munitions", including 12,000 AGM-179 JAGMs. No mention was made of Hellfire missiles, however.

Source: Pentagon, Lockheed Martin