The US State Department approved a Foreign Military Sale of Lockheed Martin's Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles - Extended Range (JASSM ER) to Australia for an estimated US$235 million.
Australia has requested to buy 80 JASSM ER (AGM-158B with telemetry kits and/or AGM-158B-2 configurations).
"The proposed sale will improve Australia’s capability to meet current and future threats by providing advanced, long-range strike systems for employment from Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) air platforms including, but not limited to, the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F-35A Lightning II," the State Department said in its approval.
The approval follows the announcement of 5 April this year that Defence would accelerate the acquisition of the JASSM-ER for the Royal Australian Air Force, as well as the Naval Strike Missile (NSM) for the RAN's surface fleet and maritime mines.
“With Australia’s strategic environment becoming more complex and challenging, our ADF must be able to hold potential adversary forces and infrastructure at risk from a greater distance,” former Minister for Defence Peter Dutton said.
“These world-class strike weapon systems will equip our forces to better protect Australia’s maritime approaches and when necessary, contribute to Coalition operations in our region.”
“The JASSM-ER will enable the FA-18F Super Hornet, and in future the F-35A Lightning II, to engage targets at a range of 900km.”