The Army has approved Lockheed Martin’s [LMT] Joint Air-To-Ground Missile (JAGM) to move into full-rate production, the company said Thursday.
Lockheed Martin noted the program milestone, made official on Aug. 30, follows the successful completion of operational testing with the JAGM weapon on the Army’s AH-64E and Marine Corps’ AH-1Z Viper helicopters.
“JAGM has repeatedly proven that it can be counted on when it matters most, providing mission-focused offensive and defense capabilities and maintaining a competitive edge against any potential adversaries,” Jerry Brode, Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control’s vice president of close combat systems, said in a statement. “The program’s full rate production milestone speaks volumes to how JAGM’s precision and combat effectiveness continues to provide 21st century solutions in an ever-evolving threat environment.”
The joint Army and Marine Corps JAGM program aims to replace the legacy Hellfire missiles, also built by Lockheed Martin, with the new surface precision-guided missile using both semi-active laser guidance and millimeter-wave radar to destroy land and maritime stationary and moving targets.
In June 2018, the JAGM achieved a Milestone C decision, clearing it for low-rate initial production (Defense Daily, June 27 2018).
Since then, Lockheed Martin noted its been producing the weapon “in limited quantities to establish a production base,” with the 1,000th JAGM produced and delivered to the Army in February.
JAGM previously achieved Initial Operational Capability for the Army’s AH-64Es in March 2019 and with the Marine Corps’ AH-1Zs this past March (Defense Daily, March 7).
“The full rate production decision demonstrates that the program has not only reached a maturation point, but it also is a vote of confidence from the Army in the product,” Joey Drake, program management director of air-to-ground missile systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said in a statement.
Lockheed Martin noted it’s also continuing to invest in future JAGM upgrades, including a medium-range variant that would double the missile’s range out to 16 kilometer