EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – U.S. Air Force air-launched weapons experts are ordering a second batch of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM), an air-launched weapon intended for the Lockheed Martin F-35 jet fighter-bomber for ground-attack missions on high-priority targets.
Officials of the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., announced a $240.9 million contract on Friday to Kongsberg Gruppen in Kongsberg, Norway, for lot 2 production of JSM full-rate production weapons. About 50 missiles are in one lot.
JSM is a derivative of the Raytheon-Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile (NSM), which has multi-sensor guidance that consists of an imaging infrared seeker, an onboard target database, and navigation by Global Positioning System (GPS), inertial sensors, and terrain-reference systems.
This order is for JSM all-up rounds with containers, test hardware, and support. Compared to the NSM, the Joint Strike Missile is shaped to fit in F-35 internal weapons bay, and has a longer range than the NSM, which experts estimate at about 150 nautical miles.
In-flight communications
JSM has an option for ground strike and a two-way communications line, so that the missile can communicate with its launcher, or with other missiles, while in the air. This missile will be integrated with the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II. Studies have shown that the F-35 would be able to carry two of these in its internal bays, while four additional missiles could be carried externally.
The JSM features advanced electronics for stealthy, multi-role operations on the F-35. Key systems include an imaging infrared seeker for precise target acquisition and autonomous target recognition that helps separate targets in cluttered environments. These electronics support low-observable flight profiles and integration with modern networks.
Inertial navigation, GPS-aided positioning, and terrain contour matching provide guidance for terrain-following and sea-skimming flights. The system offers real-time updates via a two-way data link compatible with Link 16 for in-flight retargeting and mission abort.
Passive radio frequency sensors from BAE Systems enhance electronic warfare (EW) resistance and situational awareness without emitting RF signals that could give away the missile's presence. The data link enables tactical data exchange with launchers or other missiles post-launch.
Tell me more about imaging infrared targeting ...
- Imaging infrared targeting uses thermal or reflected infrared radiation to detect, track, and identify targets without emitting energy, making it “passive.” Sensors in bands like medium-wave and longwave infrared form high-contrast images of vehicles, aircraft, or personnel based on their heat signatures, even in darkness, smoke, or bad weather. Modern targeting pods and sights combine multispectral IR imaging with image processing and laser designation to increase detection range, improve discrimination from background clutter, and support precision-guided weapons.
The advanced imaging infrared seeker provides automatic target recognition, with algorithms for identifying ships, land structures, or high-value targets even amid the sensor clutter near shorelines.
The Naval Strike Missile, from which the JSM has evolved, is a fifth-generation long-range, precision-strike missile that offers strike capability against heavily defended land and sea targets. NSM is a modernized version of the Norwegian Penguin anti-ship missile.
The NSM can detect, recognize, and discriminate among targets independently, and is designed to strike enemy ships at or near the water line to inflict maximum structural damage. Raytheon is building the NSM in partnership with Kongsberg.
Derived from Naval Strike Missile
The NSM also is the armament of the RTX Raytheon Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS), which will provide Marine Corps High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) battalions with anti-ship missiles.
In addition to NMESIS, the NSM is to equip the littoral combat ship and FFG(X) future frigate with stand-off surface-to-surface weapons capability.
On this order Kongsberg will do the work in Kongsberg, Norway, and should be finished by November 2028. For more information contact Kongsberg online at www.kongsberg.com/kda/what-we-do/defence-and-security/missile-systems/joint-strike-missile-jsm, or the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at www.aflcmc.af.mil.
