Above All Else JASSM Would Give Ukraine A Steady Supply Of Cruise Missiles
While Storm Shadow and SCALP-EG have similar basic performance to JASSM, the U.S.-made cruise missile is more survivable, featuring a high degree of low-observability (stealth) that reduces its signature to the point that it can wind its way through very advanced and dense air defense networks. This is done with the help of very high-fidelity and current electronic and other forms of intelligence and programmed into a mission planning interface that helps come up with the best route for the missile to survive its trip to its target. For terminal guidance, like SCALP-EG and Storm Shadow, imaging infrared is used together with
scene/image matching technology to attack the right target even in a dense electronic warfare environment. The seeker
system is thought to be very advancedand capable of pinpointing exact parts of structures to impact as programmed, even under varying atmospheric conditions. The first iteration of JASSM has a range of around 330 miles (although some sources have put it at around 230) and packs a 1,000-pound penetrator warhead capable of taking out hardened structures.
But the capabilities JASSM could provide really aren’t its biggest draw, it’s the fact that the U.S. has been working to stockpile
thousands of these missiles and is building more advanced versions as fast as it can.
Pentagon budget documents and
Selected Acquisition Reports for the JASSM program show just over 2,000 AGM-158As were acquired before production of those missiles ended in 2021. The current “inventory objective” for total JASSM purchases, past and future, including the aforementioned A versions, as well as current and future subvariants of the JASSM-ER, is over 12,000.
JASSM can penetrate Russian air defenses unlike anything Ukraine has now, but the numbers that could be provided is the biggest advantage.
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