A Joint Strike Missile was test-launched for the first time from an F-35A Joint Strike Fighter

We are very pleased that the US Air Force – as the world’s largest operator of the F-35A Lightning II – has decided to procure JSM. JSM combined with the extremely advanced F-35 aircraft creates a formidable strike capability and validates JSM as the internal strike capability for the F-35A.

“The selection of JSMs by both the USAF and Royal Norwegian Air Force also fully supports NATO’s vision for interchangeability of equipment between allied nations” said Eirik Lie, President of Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace.

About Joint Strike Missile (JSM)

The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is an air-launched strike missile and is designed to fit into the internal weapons bay and to fulfil complex missions, such as Anti-surface Warfare (ASuW) and land attack. The primary targets are typically highly defended and high-value assets on sea, in coastal waters or on land. JSM has an off-board, on-board and in-flight mission planning capability and can engage targets based on a pre-defined set of Rules-of-Engagement.

Development of the JSM was contracted by the Norwegian Defence Materiel Agency (NDMA).

The Norwegian Defence Material Agency (FMA or Forsvarsmateriell) in 2021 successfully carried out a first in-flight release of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) from F-35A test aircraft AF-1. The test took place above the desert area near Edwards Air Force Base.

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.

(With Agency Inputs)