Lockheed Martin announced Monday that its JASSM cruise missile performed successfully in 15 of 16 recent tests shots from Air Force B-52s and F-16s at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., as officially tallied by an independent scoring board. “This successful flight test series verifies JASSM as a reliable weapon system and underscores the Air Force’s and Lockheed Martin’s commitment to the program and to the aircrews who would use these missiles,” said Alan Jackson, Lockheed’s JASSM program director. We reported that same record earlier this month, but based only on preliminary analysis. With the official score in hand, the company said the path is now cleared for the Air Force to award a production contract for Lot 8 missiles. That deal had been placed on hold pending the results of these flight tests, which assessed the reliability of Lot 7 JASSMs.
The Air Force and Boeing agreed to a nearly $2.4 billion contract for a new lot of KC-46 aerial tankers on Nov. 21. The deal, announced by the Pentagon, is for 15 new aircraft in Lot 11 at a cost of $2.389 billion—some $159 million per tail.