Update: US Navy intends to integrate Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile onto air force F-15E/EXs

An AGM-158C LRASM missile is launched from an F/A-18E/F Super Hornet during testing in 2019. The F-15E and F-15EX are to be the second tactical aircraft to receive the LRASM capability. (NAVAIR)

US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to integrate the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto US Air Force (USAF) Boeing F-15Es and F-15EXs, according to an 8 January notification.

The notification specifies integration of the AGM-158C-1 version of LRASM, which was first delivered in 2018, with production ongoing. The F-15s will require no physical or electronic modifications beyond routine weapons integration, Boeing told Janes on 13 January. The modification would also allow F-15E/EXs to launch the in-development AGM-158C-3 extended range version, or the LRASM-XR unveiled in September 2024.

“We do not expect the weight or carriage of these future weapons to present any challenge for the F-15,” Boeing said.

Both the F-15E and F-15EX can launch Lockheed Martin's AGM-158B Joint Air-Surface Strike Missile-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), which preceded LRASM into service and incorporates the same 4.26 m-long low-observable missile body, Williams International F107 turbofan engine, and 453.6 kg penetration warhead, with the addition of a datalink and specialised maritime seeker.

LRASM is the US Department of Defense's primary air-launched anti-ship missile, replacing the AGM-84D Harpoon. The munition has been integrated with the navy's F/A-18E/F Super Hornet and USAF's B-1 Lancer, and testing for external carriage on the navy's F-35C Lightning II and P-8 Poseidon is ongoing.

LRASM emerged from a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) programme, adopted for operational use by the navy as Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 1. The first LRASMs, designated AGM-158C, were declared operational in 2018.