Germany signs for Joint Strike Missiles for F-35As
An artist's impression of JSMs being launched from an F-35A. Germany has now acquired the Norwegian missile to equip its future fleet of âstealth' fighters. (Kongsberg)
Germany has ordered the Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) Joint Strike Missile (JSM) to equip its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) combat aircraft.
Announced by the Norwegian manufacturer on 30 June, the NOK6.5 billion (USD645 million) government-to-government deal for an undisclosed number of missiles came less than a month after Germany selected the JSM on 5 June.
The Luftwaffe is scheduled to receive the first of 35 F-35As in the United States in 2026, with the type arriving in Germany by 2027. No delivery timeline for the JSMs was announced.
As noted by Janes Weapons: Air Launched , the JSM is a Norwegian-developed precisionâguided standâoff missile, optimised for use by aircraft against both naval and land targets. The low-observable weapon provides antiâship attack capability to combat aircraft by using imaging infrared (IIR) guidance and a 120 kg impact or time delay warhead.
Designed for internal and external carriage aboard the conventional take-off and landing (CTOL) F-35A and the carrier variant (CV) F-35C (it is too large for the internal weapons bays of the short take-off and vertical landing [STOVL] F-35B), the JSM has an estimated speed of Mach 0.9 and a range in excess of 275 km.
With this deal, Germany becomes the fifth country to acquire the missile for its F-35As after Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United States.
For more information on the JSM, please see Germany to order Joint Strike Missile for F-35As .
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