May 5, 200817 yr From Aviation Week Pentagon Revives Standoff Missile May 2, 2008 Bettina H. Chavanne The Pentagon certified a critical need for the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) program May 2, following the program's breach of Nunn-McCurdy acquisition law. John Young, Pentagon acquisition chief, certified a restructured JASSM program in four categories, affirming that the program is essential to national security; there are no alternatives to the program that would provide "equal or greater military capability" for less money; new estimates for procurement are "reasonable" and the management structure for JASSM acquisition is "adequate" to manage and control cost. The U.S. Air Force negotiated an agreement for Lot 7 and Not to Exceed (NTE) price for Lot 8. The two lots are the next full-rate production contract options to be exercised. The Lot 7 contract will be awarded in June for approximately 115 JASSM missiles. Development and testing activities for the JASSM-extended range (ER) increment are scheduled to resume in June with a Milestone C production decision scheduled for fiscal 2010. The start of the development of a Maritime Interdiction/Anti-Surface Warfare version of JASSM also is scheduled for FY 10. In early 2007, the U.S. Air Force informed Congress the JASSM program was expected to far exceed its $5.8 billion estimate, and that reliability had dipped to 58 percent in flight tests (Aerospace DAILY, Nov. 2, 2007). The Pentagon decided to defer its decision on the missile until flight and ground tests could validate improvements.
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