JASSM: A Terrorist's Worst Nightmare??

Good evening, FighterSweep Fans! We hope you’ve had a spectacular day and, as always, we’re delighted to bring you the latest and greatest from the world of aviation–especially on the tactical side. So tonight we bring you a data-dump on what could certainly be categorized as a terrorist’s worst nightmare.

Take a moment–if you would–and reach down into the deepest, darkest bowels of your ne’er-do-well-slaying imagination and try to imagine the ultimate way to inflict judgement on any Daesh, al Qaeda, or al Nusra terrorist. Have something in mind? Okay. Now, make it air-launched, able to slip by most advanced IADS platforms, and make sure it can be fired from a really long way away.

Chances are, under the criteria we’ve specified, your standoff ISIS-slayer would look a lot like the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile, or JASSM. And if you’re especially diabolical, it would be the AGM-158B, or JASSM-ER (Extended Range).

Infographic courtesy of Lockheed-Martin and U.S. Air Force. — Infographic courtesy of the U.S. Air Force.

It is a 2,000-pound class, long-range, conventional, air-to-ground, precision-guided standoff missile designed to meet the needs of U.S. and allied warfighters. It was designed specifically to attack high-value and well-fortified targets, both fixed and mobile, while the launch aircraft remains clear of highly defended airspace and long-range SAM threats like the S-400.

We refer to it as a terrorist’s worst nightmare for a reason: it can be employed in adverse weather conditions, day or night, using a state-of-the-art infrared seeker and enhanced digital anti-jam Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to dial into specific target aimpoints. Not to mention the fact it features many low-observable or “stealth” characteristics.

Here’s a few facts and figures for the uber-AvGeeks among us: