Lockheed Martin successfully doubles the range of the Hellfire’s replacement, the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), which has a current range of 8km’s and can now reach 16km’s. The successful flight test demonstrated the new Joint Air-to-Ground Missile-Medium Range’s (JAGM-MR) increased range, tri-mode seeker incorporating a near infrared (NIR) sensor and an electromechanical control actuation system (EMCAS). Read more from Lockheed Martin:
The successful execution of the JAGM-MR flight test demonstrated the 16 km range capability of the missile when ground launched — doubling the range of what the current JAGM system can reach. The extended range is a crucial benefit for the customer when it comes to allowing them to engage in missions they would not have previously been able to because of the current 8 km range limit of JAGM.
The increased range from 8 km to 16 km allows for increased survivability of JAGM-MR’s end user, by affording stand-off engagements of both stationary and moving targets.
Since November 2021, the JAGM-MR team has conducted six static motor firings, including operational hot and cold environmental testing, in preparation for the 16 km ground-launched, live-fire flight test. In July 2022, the team also conducted risk-reduction testing to prove out the changes to the tactically representative flight motor and ignition system prior to the flight test event.
“When I think of JAGM-MR and the things our team is doing, I really see it as being the next iteration in our JAGM product line that continues this product into the next decade-plus,” says Page. “I’m just really excited for the potential that this IRAD project has to balloon into something much bigger that can be around for a very long time.”
