Kongsberg press release
The JSM is a 5th generation stealth air-to surface missile developed to fill F-35A anti-surface warfare (ASuW) and land attack capability gaps. JSM can be carried internally in the F-35 thus ensuring the aircraft’s low-signature capabilities. The JSM has superior performance against well-defended sea- and land targets across long distances.
“The international F-35 user community is continuing to show great interest in the JSM and KONGSBERG is very proud to have been selected by Japan to provide the JSM for their F-35 fleet. “Our relationship is growing even stronger with this second follow-on contract.”
Eirik Lie, President, Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS.
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About JSM
JSM is an air launched variant of the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) with ability to attack sea and land based targets. The JSM is the only long-range sea- and land-target missile that can be carried internally in the F-35 and thus ensuring the aircraft’s low-signature (stealth) capabilities. Using a combination of advanced materials, ability to fly low, while following the terrain and using advanced passive seekers, the missile is extremely difficult to detect and stop even for the most advanced countermeasures and defence systems.
The JSM is in development for the Norwegian Armed Forces and will complete the qualification program in 2018. JSM will have unmatched operational capabilities enabling the F-35 to fight well-defended targets across long distances. The missile will be integrated on the F-35A but can also be integrated on other types of aircraft. KONGSBERG and Raytheon are partnered to provide the JSM for US and international customers.
JSM, LRASM & ASM-3 anti-ship missiles for JASDF
Under current plans, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) will deploy three different types of modern anti-ship missiles:
- the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) for the F-35,
- the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) for the modernized F-15J/DJ fleet,
- the extended-range ASM-3 (ASM-3ER: tentative name in this article) for the F-2
Advantages of fielding various anti-ship missile types
The main reason why the JSDF deploys multiple types of anti-ship missiles is to ensure that the combination of the characteristics of each missile can break through enemy air defense systems. For example, the JSM has the advantage of being hard to detect by enemy radar through sea skimming, but its range is not very long. Also, the LRASM has a long range of about 800 km, but its flight speed is not as fast as subsonic speed. In addition, ASM-3ER will break through the enemy’s air defense system at the speed of about Mach 3, but still the range does not reach far to the LRASM of subsonic speed. However, if they are operated in combination, the enemy will have to deal with each missile with different characteristics, which will place a heavy load on their air defense systems. If a hypersonic guided missile, which flies at high altitude at high speed, is added to this, the probability of the missile hitting an enemy ship becomes extremely high.
It can be said that the JSDF is steadily advancing its countermeasures with the future development of the PLAN in mind.
