During the last Air, Space & Cyber Conference of the Air & Space Forces Association, Lockheed Martin (LM) unveiled the new ‘extreme range’ version of its AGM-158 JASSM cruise missile, known as the JASSM XR (eXtreme Range).

In accordance with Lockheed, this new missile is designed to maintain its stealth and precision strike capabilities while having a range superior to the current JASSM-ER. As per Michael Rothstein, Lockheed’s Vicepresident of air weapons and sensors, the project started as a companyinvestment and will bring the new “extreme range” prototype of the AGM-158 ready for flight testing in 1or 2years, pending government budgeting. It has the ambitious objective to “significantly” expand the missile’s reach past the JASSM and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) variants, currently being produced for the USAF and US Navy. The latter is the anti-ship variant deployable in air-to-sea or sea-to-sea operations via Mk 41 VLS vertical launch cells.

The JASSM XR should retain the same 1,000-pound (453.6 kg) warhead as the JASSM-ER, but presents some structural changes compared to the previous models. The new missile is longer, from 4.2 m to 6.3 m, allowing it to carry more fuel, it should use lighter alloys, improved aerodynamics, a redesigned structure, modified fins, or a more efficient turbofan propulsion. The real numbers are classified: however, noting the official range of the JASSM-ER, which exceeds 500 nautical miles, more than 926 kilometers, the XR could potentially achieve a range exceeding 2,000 km.

The most obvious benefit of the AGM-158 XR’s longer range is that it keeps the launch platform further away from threats, but its larger, heavier design will limit the number of aircraft able to launch it. F-16, F-35, and even the F-15 will be out of the game, at this stage. The B-1B LANCER, often presented in many LM promotional videos, and the ‘highlander’ B-52H STRATOFORTRESS are currently the only 2platform ‘ready to go’, even if the new cruise missile is likely to be quickly integrated into the munitions bay of the B-2A SPIRIT and B-21 RAIDER stealth bombers.

Noting its ‘ambitious’ capabilities, this new missile could play a terrific role in countering anti-access and area-denial (A2/AD) systems, particularly those deployed by China in the Pacific.

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