U.S. Air Force F-35 Fighters: On December 12 2025 the United States Air Force gave a large contract to Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace. The deal is worth $240.9 million and supports production of the Joint Strike Missile also called JSM. This contract uses money from fiscal years 2024 and 2025 and follows a firm fixed price model. The work will take place in Norway and will continue until November 30 2028.
This contract covers more than just missiles. It includes fully built missiles containers test tools and other support equipment. The Air Force wants to make sure the weapon moves smoothly from the factory to real military use.
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What the Joint Strike Missile Can Do?
The Joint Strike Missile is a long-range air-launched weapon. Engineers designed it to fit inside the F-35 without hurting its stealth shape. The missile comes from Norway’s Naval Strike Missile but engineers changed it to work better with aircraft. Raytheon and other US companies helped with this work to meet American needs.
The missile can hit ships and land targets. It uses GPS and inertial navigation to fly long distances. It can follow the shape of the land to avoid detection. At the final stage it uses an imaging infrared seeker to find and hit the correct target. It also uses a two-way data link and passive radio tracking. This allows it to attack radar systems such as air defense radars and tracking radars.
The missile weighs 416 kg and measures 4 m long. It carries a 120 kg warhead that causes blast and fragmentation damage. A Williams International F-415 engine powers it and pushes it close to Mach 0.9 speed. Depending on how it flies the missile can reach about 555 km at maximum range. Other flight paths offer more than 350 km or about 185 km at low altitude.
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Funding Plan
At the time of the award, the Air Force had already committed most of the money. It used $137,970,866 from fiscal 2024 funds and $102,933,232 from fiscal 2025 funds. The Air Force plans to buy up to 48 missiles with 2024 money and up to 50 missiles with 2025 money, reported Army recognition. The estimated unit cost stays close to $3.3 million per missile.
Testing and integration of the missile on the F-35A will continue through 2026. Developmental testing should finish by September 2025. Operational testing should start in May 2026. The Air Force expects the first missiles from the 2024 batch around May 2026. Missiles from the 2025 batch should arrive around March 2027.
The program also covers added engineering work and cyber support. Some equipment, like cables and loading tools, only costs money once and will not be repeated later. Current planning suggests the Air Force could buy around 204 missiles out of a goal of 240.
