American defense giant Lockheed Martin has received a $720 million contract for the supply of JAGM and Hellfire guided missiles.
The company announced this on its website.
The missiles will be delivered to the U.S. Armed Forces and foreign customers.
This contract includes, in particular, the delivery of 160 JAGM missiles to the United Kingdom, as well as Hellfire missiles to Poland, Spain, the Czechia, Italy, and Canada.
For example, Poland will equip its AH-64E Apache attack helicopters, which were recently ordered from the United States, with AGM-114 Hellfire missiles. Meanwhile, Czechia will arm its AH-1Z attack helicopters, which are already in service, with these missiles.
The AGM-179A JAGM is the latest aviation strike weapon, introduced into U.S. service only in 2022, and is intended to replace the earlier Hellfire and Maverick missiles.
As noted by the developers at Lockheed Martin, the AGM-179 retains a significant degree of commonality with the Hellfire missile, in particular using the same engine.
Meanwhile, its distinguishing feature is a new dual-mode seeker, which, in addition to semi-active laser guidance, is capable of independently homing using an onboard millimeter-wave radar.
Thus, the new missile enables the implementation of a “fire-and-forget” concept for striking both moving and stationary targets on land and water, and under certain conditions – also in the air.
