GPS issue latest in history of JASSM problems

From Aviation Week

GPS Issue Latest In History Of JASSM Problems

Jul 31, 2007

Amy Butler/Aerospace Daily & Defense Report

At least eight components of the Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) have caused problems during the stealthy cruise missile's troubled past, contributing to the missile's 42 percent failure rate in recent months.

All of the issues are being addressed and some of the involved systems are being fixed or replaced (see chart p. 2). The steady stream of issues, though, demonstrates a pattern of failures that traces back to the first lot of deliveries.

As part of a get-well plan for the $5.8 billion program, the U.S. Air Force is adding flight-tests at a cost of $68 million. Though Lockheed Martin earlier rejected shared funding for the plan, the company now has agreed to pay $38 million toward the testing. The company also has changed its management, bringing in Steve Barnoske, who led the tactical missiles branch of Lockheed Martin, as director of the JASSM program.

The problems, most recently with a Global Positioning System-dropout that caused missiles to impact more than 100 feet from their targets (DAILY, May 10), contributed to a decision by House appropriators to reject the Air Force's plan to continue to ramp up funding in fiscal 2008, and the defense appropriations subcommittee proposes to trim $34 million from the USAF request of $201.1 million. Validation of the fix to the GPS dropout problem will come in November, with flight-tests to follow.

The Air Force also is planning to issue a request for information (RFI) to industry to explore alternatives by mid-September. The RFI will include stealthy cruise missile capabilities similar to the 200-mile range JASSM and 500-mile JASSM-extended range variant.

There is reluctance in Congress to abandon JASSM, according to one staffer there, combined with concern about turning to a European solution - either the MBDA Storm Shadow or Taurus KEPD 350 - and pulling money out of the U.S. industrial base. The system's design is "sound," the staffer says, and "it is largely suppliers" that are causing problems.

At least 16 flight-tests have been added to the program as well as up to 17 ground tests to demonstrate fixes for the GPS dropout problem. Production of the missile is expected to slow and stretch out as a result of the guidance issue, according to a briefing provided to Capitol Hill from USAF Maj. Gen. Mark Shackelford, the service's director of global power program acquisition. The government plans to pick up the tab for the lengthened production run.

The Air Force reported a major JASSM cost overrun to Congress earlier this year, and the Pentagon has taken the unusual step of deferring a decision on whether to move ahead with the program or terminate it. That decision will come in spring 2008, a full year after the overrun was reported to Congress. At that time a new cost estimate will be formed, though the missile is expected to have doubled in unit cost from its original estimate of $400,000 per missile to more than $800,000.

Shoddy components have been a major factor in JASSM's low reliability. According to a briefing Shackelford provided to lawmakers, the problems range from the missile's electrical systems, warhead, and power system to its guidance kit and engine components. Seven of the issues are in various stages of repair or replacement. One industry expert says this is a "stunning list" of historical problems for the JASSM program (see chart below).

JASSM production continues at Lockheed Martin's Troy, Ala., facility on Lots 4-6, though the Air Force has suspended acceptance of more missiles until analysis of the problems is complete. The Air Force plans to buy 4,900 missiles, including a mix of baseline models and extended-range variants.