Lockheed Martin wins $34 million contract to integrate JASSM onto Finnish Air Force F-18

ORLANDO, Fla., 27 July 2013. Lockheed Martin (NYSE:LMT) won a $34.2 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract from the U.S. Air Force to support additional integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) onto Finnish Air Force F-18C/D aircraft.

The program is a joint effort between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Air Force, Lockheed Martin, and the Finnish Air Force.

“JASSM’s capabilities and proven reliability will play an essential role in assisting the Republic of Finland to achieve their national defense objectives,” notes Bob Adams, international program manager of long-range strike systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “We are on schedule to support the operational requirements of the Finnish Air Force’s F-18 mid-life upgrade effort.”

Finland is the second international customer for JASSM, and this second contract for Finland includes test missiles, software development, and engineering documentation. The first contract, awarded in 2012, initiated the six-year integration, production, and sustainment effort.

The contract award follows several JASSM program milestones, including completion of the Lot 6 Reliability Assessment Program and the JASSM-ER initial operational test and evaluation program, which resulted in a recommendation for full-rate production.

JASSM is produced at Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing facility in Troy, Ala. The company has assembled more than 1,200 JASSM cruise missiles for testing and operational use toward a total U.S. Air Force objective of 4,900.

Airworthiness activities will occur at NAS Patuxent River, Md., followed by flight testing at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake, Calif.

Future integration efforts will focus on U.S. and international versions of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft and other international platforms.