According to the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance (MDAA), a cruise missile is defined as “an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target.”  

When military history buffs think of cruise missiles, chances are they think of either Nazi Germany’s V-1 “buzz bomb” of WWII, which was the very first operational cruise missile, or the U.S.-made Tomahawk, which was the first American cruise missile to be successfully used in combat such as in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.

However, cruise missiles certainly haven’t remained frozen in time since the twentieth century. Accordingly, we shall discuss one of the deadliest newer-vintage cruise missiles on the scene, the air-to-ground missile (AGM-158) Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM). 

JASSM Initial History and Specifications 

Designed between 1995 and 1998, entering into production in 2001, and making its operation debut in 2003, the JASSM is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, whose official product info page states “As one of Lockheed Martin’s first cruise missiles, JASSM has experienced over twenty years of successful partnership with the U.S. Air Force, providing continued significant long-range, precision engagement capabilities for air-to-ground missions. The combat-proven and mission-effective weapon system is designed to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed, and relocatable targets from significant standoff range, keeping aircrews out of danger from hostile air defense systems without compromise to lethality or reach…JASSM remains responsive and relevant to 21st-century security through the continued development of enhanced capabilities, software upgrades, and integration onto premier platforms like the F-35. “ 

 Specifications and vital stats of the JASSM include: 

• Length: fourteen feet one inch (4.287 meters) 

• Width: twenty-two inches (550 mm) 

• Height: eighteen inches (450 mm) 

• Mass: 2,251 lb. (1,021 kg) 

• Warhead Weight: 1,000 lb. (450 kg) 

   

• Muzzle Velocity: 827 meters per second (2,710 feet per second) 

• Operational Range: 230 mi (370.4 km) 

Reportedly 7,500 of these missiles have been built thus far. 

Operational History/Combat Performance 

There have been two reported instances of the JASSM being deployed in actual combat. 

 The first “blooding” of the missile transpired during the April 14, 2018 missile strikes against Syria during the Syrian Civil War. Therein, two B-1B Lancer (AKA the “Bone”) bombers launched nineteen JASSMs against the Barzah Research Center an alleged chemical weapons site – which was destroyed in the strike.  

The second combat usage of the JASSM took place in Iraq on October 27, 2019, at the end of the Barisha raid that killed the then-leader of the Islamic State/ISIS/ISIL/Da’esh terror group, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi; multiple AGM-158B missiles were used to completely level the compound where al-Baghdadi had been skulking about.  

The Way Forward 

Remember what I said earlier (paragraph 3 to be precise) about cruise missile technology not remaining frozen in time? Turns out that’s not only true in the general but also in the specific case of the JASSM. As noted by my colleague Harrison Kass, there is an even deadlier version of this missile coming online: the AGM-158 eXtreme Range (XR). 

Designed for both the U.S. Air Force (USAF) and the U.S. Navy (USN), the JASSM XR was unveiled at the Air, Space & Cyber 2024 Conference, which is the Air & Space Force Association’s (AFA) biggest event of the year. The XR variant will have a bigger fuselage to accommodate the extra fuel capacity needed to extend the missile’s range to 1,000 miles (1,609.3 km). 

Lockheed Martin’s separate info page on the XR, apparently reflecting conscientiousness about spiraling cost overruns afflicting all too many modern weapons systems out there (including the company’s own F-35 Lightning II), hastens to point out that “Stemming from the fully-qualified JASSM-ER weapon system and the evolutionary LRASM weapon system, XR offers a low-risk solution at a fraction of the cost of a new start program…By leveraging the mature JASSM and LRASM production line, established supply chain, mission planning, and software infrastructure, and by implementing a few structural changes, XR can significantly reduce development and production time.” 

 If all goes as planned, this upgraded JASSM will be launchable from fighter jets and bomber aircraft, and possibly even deployable from cargo aircraft down the road. 

Strictly conjecture here, but methinks the C-130 Hercules would be the perfect cargo candidate for the missile, as there’s already the super deadly, heavily armed gunship variant of the “Herc,” that being the AC-130.

Meanwhile, as my colleague Alex Hollings reported back in August, there is at least an outside possibility that the Ukrainians will receive the standard-edition JASSM to arm their newly-acquired F-16s to aid their fight against Vladimir Putin’s never-ending so-called “special military operation.” Stay tuned for more on this one, ladies & gents.  

Christian D. Orr is a Senior Defense Editor for the National Security Journal (NSJ). He is a former Air Force Security Forces officer, Federal law enforcement officer, and private military contractor (with assignments worked in Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, Kosovo, Japan, Germany, and the Pentagon). Chris holds a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California (USC) and an M.A. in Intelligence Studies (concentration in Terrorism Studies) from American Military University (AMU). He has also been published in The Daily Torch , The Journal of Intelligence and Cyber Security, and Simple Flying. Last but not least, he is a Companion of the Order of the Naval Order of the United States (NOUS).

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