B-1B bomber gets new missiles as it continues to strike in Iraq and Syria

USAF B-1B Lancer has been involved in airstrikes against the Islamic State militant group for months.
While the aircraft in the Middle East continue to make bombing runs, other Lancers stateside have been involved in a series of experiments to upgrade the plane’s arsenal of weapons.
Air Force officials said Monday that the bomber has become the first U.S. aircraft to be approved for a new long-range missile. The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), made by Lockheed Martin, more than doubles the range of the legacy JASSM missile to more than 500 miles. Each missile weighs about 2,000 pounds, and uses infrared technology to find its target.
The older JASSM is used on the B-52 bomber and the F-15E Strike Eagle and F-16 Fight Falcon fighter jets. To date, however, the long-range missile only has been approved for use on the Lancer. It isn’t clear if and when it will be used in airstrikes.
The B-1B also has been involved in testing for another weapon, the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). The round, developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) with the Navy and the Air Force, has a 1,000-pound warhead. It underwent a successful test flight from the Lancer bomber last month.

USAF Upgrades B-52 Weapons Bay to Carry Smart Weapons

Sixty-one years since the type’s first flight, the US Air Force is upgrading the weapons bays of the Boeing B-52 to carry satellite-guided conventional munitions.
A crew of Boeing and US Air Force technicians installed a prototype of the new weapons bay launcher in a B-52 at Edwards AFB, California.
The prototype modifies a rotary launcher intended to carry nuclear weapons to carry conventional weapons.
The initial version will allow the B-52 to carry satellite-guided Boeing joint direct attack munitions internally.
Future upgrades should give the bomber the ability to carry stand-off munitions, such as the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 joint air to surface standoff missile (JASSM) and the Raytheon ADM-160 miniature air-launched decoy, Boeing says.
The B-52 carries such so-called “smart” weapons on wing-mounted pylons now. Moving the weapons into the internal bays should reduce fuel consumption by 15%.
It also means the B-52 can carry eight more cruise missiles inside the weapons bay.
flightglobal

JASSMs To Equip Polish F-16s

Poland has signed a deal with Lockheed AGM-158 joint air-to-surface standoff missiles (JASSMs) for its fleet of 48 F-16 fighter jets.
Poland joins Australia and Finland as the third non-US country to acquire the missiles. The foreign military sale was approved by the US Congress in October.
The missiles will be delivered to Poland’s military from 2016 to 2019. The Polish Air Force will reach initial operational capability with the weapon in March 2017.
defensenews

USAF begins fielding JASSM-ER

The USAF has received into operational service the Lockheed Martin AGM-158B Joint Air-To-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range (JASSM-ER).
JASSM-ER has more than two and a half times the range of the standard AGM-158A JASSM on which it is based, meaning it can be launched from outside of defended airspace and the coverage of long-range surface-to-air missiles, and is intended for use against high-value, well-fortified, fixed and relocatable targets.
Currently the JASSM-ER is only integrated onto the Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber, but there are efforts underway for it also to be fitted to the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle, Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon and Boeing B-52H Stratfortress.
janes

Finland aborts missile acquisition from United States

Finland has announced that it will not carry out the planned acquisition of tactical missiles from the United States and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, the army tactical missile system (ATacMS) missiles are surface-to-surface missiles fired from launchers.
The missiles have a range of up to 300 kilometres. The project has been put on hold due to budgetary reasons, due to high unit price.
The Ministry of Defence wrangled over the acquisition with the United States for 18 months, having been granted a congressional permit to purchase a maximum of 70 tactical missiles in mid-2012. The project received considerable media attention, after the initial application for a permit was withdrawn from the US Congress due to a misprint.
The Finnish Defence Forces views that the tactical missiles would become an integral part of Finland's defence capability, which has been developed systematically on the basis of a capability study conducted in 2004. The study indicates that the most crucial weapons systems for the country's defence are heavy missile launchers, air-to-surface missiles and special ammunition.
A green light has already been granted for the acquisition of air-to-surface missiles for the Finnish Hornet fleet and special ammunition.
The Ministry of Defence revealed recently that Finland decided two years ago to acquire joint air-to-surface stand-off missiles (JASSM) for its Hornet fleet.
In addition, the country has prepared for the acquisition of the ATacMS by acquiring in 2006 heavy multiple rocket launchers from the Netherlands.
The system of roughly 100 vehicles and 22 launch pads has consequently thus far been only used to fire practice rockets and mines.
helsinkitimes

Lockheed Martin Receives $34 Million JASSM Contract for Additional Integration onto Finnish Air Force F-18

Lockheed Martin received a $34.2 million Foreign Military Sales contract from the U.S. Air Force to support additional integration of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) onto the Finnish Air Force F-18C/D aircraft.
lockheedmartin