Australia Chooses JASSM Missiles on F-18s for Long-Range Strike
Dec 22, 2013 19:27 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff



In March 2005, Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile (or JASSM) cruise missile won the competition with Boeing’s SLAM-ER and the Taurus KEPD 350 for the AIR 5418 Follow-on Standoff Weapon (FOSOW) requirement. This marks the first international sale of this stealthy cruise missile, which was originally developed for the US Air Force and Navy. The contract includes production, integration and support, and was signed in September 2006 . Total project cost was revealed as A$ 300 million (about USD$ 230 million), and production will be integrated into the existing line at the Lockheed Martin Pike County Operations facility in Troy, AL, USA.

The Australian government noted that “acquiring a long range air to surface missile has been publicly listed in Defence’s Capability Plan since 2001 and specific details were announced in August 2004,” and JASSMs are expected to be operational on Australia’s aircraft fleet by December 2009. Nevertheless, the purchase raised some controversy at home concerning its effect on the region, the reason it was chosen, and some of the choices that accompany its selection.

What’s the history behind this buy? Why did Australia make this particular choice, and choose the JASSM over the SLAM-ER? Is the regional destabilization controversy valid?



Australian JASSM: Contracts & Key Events

The total AIR 5418 Phase 1 budget in FY 2013 funds, including inflation and exchange adjustments, is A$ 317.4 million. JASSM was bought through a Foreign Military Sales (FMS) Case with the USAF for the supply of the operational and test missiles, support equipment and USAF program management support. A 2nd FMS case with the United States Navy covered weapon to aircraft integration (combined: A$ 162.9 million as of June 2013). Integration of JASSM onto the F/A-18 A/B Hornet was undertaken by the US Navy’s Advanced Weapons Laboratory at China Lake, CA. The integration effort required the inclusion of the JASSM capability into the F/A-18 A/B Hornet 21X and 23X Operational Flight Program (OFP) software, which is the Hornet’s core software.

Finally, an $87.4 million Direct Commercial Sales contract with Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control bought certification/ airworthiness data, integration support, and unspecified “missile capability enhancements”.

Australia’s JASSM Acquisition: Explanation & Analysis

To explain the program background, DID turned to Carlo Kopp, P.Eng. of Air Power Australia and Monash University for a short history lesson. He writes:

“The recent selection of the JASSM is the end point in a very long an tortuous path which started over a decade ago. At that time it was decided to equip the RAAF F-111 fleet with a Mil-Std-1760 capable variant of the AGM-142 [DID: Popeye/ Have Nap short range cruise missile], which prevailed in a contest against the US AGM-130 weapon. Planning at that time envisaged a follow-on weapon to the AGM-142, also to be carried by the F-111, in a latter phase of the AIR 5398 program. With delays mostly induced by the Canberra DoD withholding funding for extended periods of time, the integration of the AGM-142 was not completed until very recently with the weapon now achieving IOC [DID: Initial Operating Capability], as the F-111C fleet is being retrofitted with Mil-Std-1760 interfaces and a VME COTS auxiliary processor subsystem.

By the late 1990s public statements indicated that the AGM-158 JASSM was seen to be the winner of this contest, the aim being for an F-111 to carry four rounds on Mil-Std-1760 pivot pylons. However, a large scale freeze of all projects in progress in the 2000 FY period saw this program also disappear into limbo. It was subsequently resurrected as AIR 5418, the aim again being to provide a cruise missile class weapon for the RAAF. The subsequent shortlist saw the field narrowed down to the KEPD-350, SLAM-ER and JASSM.”

All three weapons are semi-stealthy cruise missiles with turbojet engines, using GPS and thermal imaging guidance that lets them follow programmed routes to their targets:

Spain bought the EADS/LFK’s Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile for use on its F/A-18 Fighters in 2005. It has an effective range of 350km (210 miles), weighs 1,300kg (2,800 pounds), and carries a 480kg (1,050-pound) warhead. It lacks a datalink for in-flight retargeting, though this is contemplated as a future upgrade.

Boeing’s SLAM-ER is a subsonic cruise missile in service with the US Navy on F/A-18 Hornet family and S-3 Viking aircraft, and is being acquired by South Korea for its F-15K Strike Fighters. It is based on a modified Harpoon anti-ship missile, with an effective range of 150 nautical miles (280km). It weighs 1,600 pounds (725kg), and carries an 800-pound warhead (360kg). SLAM-ER can be used in an anti-shipping mode, and has In-Flight Flex-Targeting capability that enables effective retargeting of the missile after launch. In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the missiles’ video link was used to provide bomb damage assessment to mission planners. On the negative side, it is the least stealthy design of the three.

Lockheed Martin’s AGM-158 JASSM is also a subsonic cruise missile. It’s bigger than the SLAM-ER, with better stealth and range, but smaller and slightly shorter range than the Taurus. JASSM had also been integrated with F/A-18s before the US Navy dropped out of the joint USAF/USN project in FY 2005 to go with SLAM-ER. The weapon has an effective range of approximately 200 nautical miles (320km), weighs 2,250 pounds (1,020kg), and carries a 1,000-pound warhead. DID has covered the JASSM before, which faced questions over its future in the last US budget cycle – ironically, largely on the grounds that SLAM-ER could do the same job. Anti-ship capability and a two-way datalink that would allow retargeting are slated for future upgrades, but are not currently part of JASSM’s capabilities.



Australia’s order would appear to assure the long-term future of the JASSM, as alliance diplomacy now becomes a factor in any cancellation decisions. Yet the order has created some surprise and even controversy in Australia. Dr. Kopp adds:

“Twelve months ago the KEPD-350 was withdrawn from the contest, leaving the field to Boeing and LM. The win by the JASSM was announced last month.

The Australian DoD does not have a recent history of explaining the rationale for decisions in any other terms than public relations generalities, so the exact criteria which drove the decision are not yet known publicly. Many observers expected the SLAM-ER would win the bid since less integration effort would be required, and many in the F/A-18A community, which has considerable clout inside the Canberra DoD, are known to often favour US Navy solutions.

The JASSM is a much newer weapon than the SLAM-ER in design concept, has much better low observables performance than SLAM-ER, and with the CALCM-class JASSM-ER in development, has better growth potential and likely longer production life than SLAM-ER. This makes it a better long term choice, in strategic capability terms. As JASSM was engineered for very low unit production costs, it may have also been a cheaper option.”

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Tetangga sebelah sudah punya stand-off long range missile JASSM, sudah saatnya pengawal republik ini melek, kenapa kita harus punya SAM yang mumpuni dan AU yg bukan abal-abal .....................................