US Air Force Plans to Boost Stockpile of Lockheed’s Stealth Missile
An airman from the 28th Munitions Squadron secures Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) on a flatbed truck at Ellsworth Air Force Base in Box Elder, South Dakota.
Photographer: Christina Bennett/US Air ForceThe US Air Force plans to buy nearly 4,300 long-range stealth cruise missiles from Lockheed Martin Corp. over the next five years, according to new budget documents, after using them against Iranian targets.
The Joint Air-Surface Standoff Missile — or JASSM — purchases would run through 2031, with military planners considering the projectiles key to any potential future conflict with China.