Lockheed Martin Delivers the 1,000th Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile to the U.S. Air Force

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Apr 12, 2010, 12:00 ET

ORLANDO, Fla., April 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin's (NYSE: LMT) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program team has delivered its 1,000th missile to the U.S. Air Force. The missile was completed as part of the seventh production lot at the Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control facility in Troy, AL.

Missile number 1,000 was completed seven years after the first missile was delivered, almost to the month. This achievement was acknowledged in a rollout ceremony at the Troy facility, with participants including U.S. Air Force Program Office officials, U.S. Air Force Air Combat Command representatives, Australian Department of Defence officials, Defense Contract Management Agency officials and Lockheed Martin team members.

"This milestone shows the resolve of Lockheed Martin employees to deliver top quality products to our customers," said Alan Jackson, JASSM program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Working with our customers, we've overcome challenges, accommodated new requirements and are delivering a precision weapon that provides unparalleled capabilities to U.S. and allied Warfighters."

JASSM is a critical weapon for the U.S. Air Force, with the eighth production lot under contract toward a total objective of 4,900 JASSMs and JASSM-ERs (Extended Range). The baseline JASSM is also produced for foreign military sale customers. JASSM's can be integrated on multiple aircraft and have been successfully demonstrated on the B-1, B-2, B-52 and F-16 aircraft. Future platforms include the F-15E, F/A-18 and F-35.

The missile is produced at Lockheed Martin's award-winning manufacturing facility in Troy, AL. Lockheed Martin has assembled JASSM missiles in Troy, for testing and operational use, since late 1999. A 2,000-pound class weapon with a penetrator/blast fragmentation warhead, JASSM cruises autonomously in adverse weather, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker in addition to the anti-jam GPS to find a specific target aimpoint. Its stealthy airframe makes it extremely difficult to defeat.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation reported 2009 sales of $45.2 billion.

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SOURCE Lockheed Martin