US Air Force's F-35 Fleet Is Getting A $240M Firepower Upgrade

The United States Air Force just paid out an over $240 million contract ($240,904,098 to be exact) for new joint strike missiles, according to government press releases from earlier this month. That hefty contract was awarded to Konsberg, a defence contractor based in Norway that supports a number of different NATO, European Union, and Western-aligned countries.

Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning IIs flown by the United States Air Force will be the most likely recipient of the new missile tech, which seeks to expand the jet's stealthy capabilities. Konsberg's joint strike missile program manufactures cruise missiles that can be launched via fighter jet, as opposed to larger and more widely used naval or land-based systems like the Tomahawk.

The contract stipulates that the procurement of missiles will be completed by November 30 of 2028, likely timed right towards the end of the current Trump administration. The same press release also enumerated the contract paid out to Boeing for the new VC-25B planes that will serve as Air Force One.

According to Konsberg (PDF), the joint strike missiles give compatible fighter jets (as well as helicopters and drones) the ability to launch a small cruise missile that's capable of evading detection and even picking out targets. The exact technology that powers the missile is, of course, classified, but a brochure from Konsburg says that its stealthy attributes are due to its relatively low speed of just under the speed of sound, and its terrain-following flight behavior. It flies really low to the ground in an effort to slip by detection methods. 

The missile is also relatively small. It's reported to weigh 917 pounds, and it's only a little over 13 feet long, or about a third the weight and about three feet shorter than a Toyota Corolla. Compare that to a 20-foot long and over 3,000 pound Tomahawk missile. The United States Air Force lists the F-35 as able to carry an 18,000 pound payload and is cagey on any more details than that. The United States Air Force's contract only covers the air-launched variation of the missile, however Konsberg also manufactures a sea-launched version fittingly called the naval strike missile.