Ukraine’s F-16s could soon be carrying stealthy long-range cruise missiles

Ukraine’s newly received F-16 fighter jets may soon be carrying some of America’s most capable, stealthy air-launched cruise missiles, known as the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Stand-off Missile, or JASSM. These weapons, which first entered service in 2003, could allow Ukrainian fighters to strike Russian targets with a 1,000-pound high-explosive warhead from many hundreds of miles away.

According to reporting from Politico, unnamed officials within the Biden administration signaled the president’s willingness to provide these fairly modern weapons to Ukraine last week, as Ukraine’s offensive into Russia continues. Providing Ukraine with JASSM cruise missiles would give the country a rare capability on the world’s stage: Few countries can engage targets from such long distances with air-launched weapons, particularly low-flying air-breathing cruise missiles which can be particularly difficult to intercept.

Although the JASSM has since been superseded by the much more capable JASSM-ER in the U.S. arsenal, the original AGM-158 would still be among the most advanced munitions provided to Ukraine by the U.S. to date.

A U.S. Air Force B-2 Spirit launches a JASSM cruise missile in testing. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Production on the AGM-158 JASSM began in 1998, to provide the United States and several international partners with a low-observable air-launched cruise missile capable of engaging targets from stand-off ranges, allowing the launching aircraft to deploy the weapon while still safely outside the reach of enemy air defenses.

The AGM-158 JASSM stretches a bit more than 14 feet long with a set of deployable wings that extend upon launch to nearly nine feet wide. It is powered by an onboard Teledyne CAE J402 turbojet engine, which is an updated iteration of the powerplant found inside weapons dating back to the original Harpoon missile. The turbojet has an unclassified thrust rating of roughly 660 pounds, which is reportedly enough to propel the weapon to high subsonic speeds (around .85 Mach) and cover ranges in excess of 230 miles (and, depending on the speed and altitude of the launching aircraft, potentially even more than 300).

Related: Everything you need to know about F-16s arriving in Ukraine

AGM-158 JASSM in testing (Lockheed Martin)

These Lockheed Martin-sourced weapons soon became the basis for a whole family of more advanced cruise missiles, including the AGM-168B JASSM-ER, with that ER portion standing for “Extended Range.” The JASSM-ER carried more fuel onboard and a more efficient turbofan engine that increased its operational range out to an unclassified 575 miles or more. Shortly thereafter, the JASSM-ER led to the development of the AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), which is believed to have a range of only about 230 miles, but the ability to wirelessly network with other LRASMs using onboard artificial intelligence for a variety of long-range ship-hunting duties.

While it’s unlikely Ukraine will see these more advanced variants of the AGM-158 family, the original JASSM could nonetheless provide the embattled nation with a significant increase in long-range strike capabilities to coincide with its pre-owned F-16AMs and BMs working their way into the fight.

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