AUSA 2025: Lockheed Martin debuts ground-launched JAGM

Lockheed Martin performed a live fire of a ground-launched version of the AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona, in August 2025. (Lockheed Martin)

The first live fire of a ground-launched AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) took place at Yuma Proving Ground with a US Army-provided munition, Lockheed Martin executives announced on 8 October.

The ground-launched version of JAGM, called JAGM Quad Launcher (JQL), was fired using the company's internal investment funding on 28 August and was a “successful” milestone in preparing the technology for a future vertical launch configuration, said Casey Walsh, multidomain missile systems director at Lockheed Martin. There is no existing requirement for the vertical launcher with the US Army, but army officials were present at the launch.

The company is debuting a life-size model of the JQL at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA's) annual conference on 13 October in Washington, DC.

Loaded horizontally and launched at a 45º angle, the missile shot was “data gathering and prep work” for the eventual vertical launch, said Walsh. It is “a key development” for the vertical launch JAGM that Lockheed Martin envisions for ground defence, air defence, and counter unmanned aircraft systems (C-UASs), he said.

The horizontal load takes two people to lift, said Ed Dobeck, Lockheed Martin's launching systems director. “That direct reload capability is something that's a little bit novel compared to some of the other munitions that we are able to launch from our portfolio, but also gives that firepower to support a modern deterrence that we think is going to be able to provide a lot of value to a lot of the smaller platforms,” he added.