U.S. Central Command said on March 5 that Special Operations Task Group-Central (SOTG-C) and Air Forces Central airmen recently had hands-on training for the rapid installation and delivery of palletized Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) on an Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130J Commando II combat transport aircraft.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] builds the AGM-158A JASSM, the AGM-158B JASSM Extended Range, and the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile.
“Loading JASSM cradles into the special operations aircraft, the airmen worked with SOTG-C crews and maintenance personnel to rehearse standard operating procedures for future palletized movements within the region,” CENTCOM said. “Palletized effects have the potential to assist in multiple scenarios on the spectrum of conflict ranging from contested resupply to kinetic effects.”
Nearly nine months after Russia’s assault on Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, U.S. Special Operations Command Europe (SOCEUR) conducted the first theater test over the Arctic Circle in Norway of a JASSM palletized munition, dropped from an MC-130J Commando II (Defense Daily, Nov. 9, 2022).
SOCEUR said that the test occurred over the Andøya Space Range off Norway’s Andøya Island and that the test was part of U.S. European Command’s ATREUS exercises.
The test was part of the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rapid Dragon program to test and field palletized munition operational prototypes on cargo aircraft within two years (Defense Daily, Dec. 17, 2021).