U.S. Air Force awards $240 million contract for Joint Strike Missiles for F-35 fighter jets.

The U.S. Air Force on December 12, 2025, awarded Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace a $240.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for Joint Strike Missile Lot Two production.

On December 12, 2025, the U.S. Air Force awarded Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace a $240.9 million firm-fixed-price contract for Joint Strike Missile Lot Two production, funded with fiscal 2024 and 2025 procurement missile appropriations. The sole-source award covers all-up-round missiles, containers, test hardware, and support equipment, with work performed in Norway through November 30, 2028. The contract supports continued integration and fielding of the internally carried JSM on the F-35A fleet.
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Designed to preserve the aircraft’s low-observable configuration, the Joint Strike Missile is an air-launched, long-range precision weapon derived from Norway’s Naval Strike Missile and optimized for internal carriage on the F-35. (Picture source: Kongsberg)

At the time of the award, the U.S. Air Force obligated $137,970,866 from fiscal 2024 procurement missile funding and $102,933,232 from fiscal 2025 procurement missile funding. Lot Two is defined as a dedicated production batch rather than an isolated missile purchase, meaning it combines missile manufacturing with the auxiliary equipment required to move the weapon from factory output through acceptance and toward operational use. The inclusion of containers, test hardware, and support elements indicates that the Air Force is procuring not only missiles themselves but also the infrastructure needed to sustain the weapon during early fielding. This approach is a standard practice for precision-guided munitions entering or expanding within operational inventories, where logistics and testing capacity are procured in parallel with the weapon.

The Joint Strike Missile (JSM) is a long-range, air-launched precision weapon intended to engage both maritime and land targets, and it is optimized for internal carriage on the F-35, including the U.S. Air Force F-35A variant. The missile is derived from Norway’s Naval Strike Missile (NSM) and incorporates U.S. industry participation, including contributions from Raytheon, to meet integration and operational requirements. Internal carriage allows the F-35 to retain its low-observable configuration while carrying a stand-off strike capability, which is relevant for missions involving defended airspace. The missile is suitable for operations in environments that may include advanced air defenses and electronic warfare, with an imaging infrared seeker supporting target discrimination at the terminal stage.

The Joint Strike Missile combines inertial navigation and GPS guidance with terrain-referenced navigation and terrain-following flight profiles. Terminal guidance relies on an imaging infrared seeker, and the missile is also equipped with a two-way datalink and passive radio-frequency homing functions to support engagements against radar-emitting targets, such as air defense systems, fire control radars, early warning radars, target tracking radars, and engagement radars. The JSM weighs 416 kg, has a length of 4 m, and carries a 120 kg blast-fragmentation warhead. Propulsion is provided by a Williams International F-415 small turbofan engine, with an estimated maximum speed around Mach 0.9. Range figures referenced for different flight profiles include approximately 555 km for a hi-hi-lo profile, more than 350 km for other profiles, and about 185 km for a lo-lo-lo profile.

Funding and quantity planning associated with the Lot Two effort outline how the US Air Force intends to scale procurement across fiscal years. Fiscal 2024 funding is associated with the procurement of up to 48 Joint Strike Missile all-up rounds and related support equipment, while fiscal 2025 funding is associated with up to 50 all-up rounds and related support equipment. Gross weapon system costs are listed at $161.011 million for FY 2024 and $165.909 million for FY 2025, with corresponding unit costs of approximately $3.354 million and $3.318 million per missile. The planning framework also notes that totals may not sum exactly due to rounding and that quantities can change under a buy-to-budget approach depending on negotiated pricing options and available funding.

Program scheduling links the production effort to a broader testing and integration timeline for the missile on the U.S. Air Force's F-35A fighter jet. Operational test and evaluation is projected to begin in May 2026, following completion of the developmental test and evaluation projected for September 2025. The same planning framework ties these milestones to the integration of network-enabled weapons capabilities on the aircraft. Delivery timelines associated with the funded fiscal years show planning for initial deliveries around May 2026 for the FY 2024 production line and March 2027 for the FY 2025 line, with the understanding that production rates and lead times are expected to stabilize as the contract progresses.

Additional cost and planning elements describe how the program manages non-recurring and recurring expenses across the production ramp. Increased contractor services are associated with personnel and travel to support post F-35A testing, integration, and production activities, as well as expanded engineering and technical support related to cybersecurity and integration tasks. At the same time, certain items such as adapters, cables, and a loading cradle are identified as one-time costs that decrease in later phases. Within this framework, planning comparisons indicate the ability to procure approximately 204 all-up rounds against an inventory objective of 240, with final quantities subject to adjustment once production lots are fully negotiated. Overall, the Lot Two contract establishes a defined pathway for continued Joint Strike Missile production, integration, and fielding within the U.S. Air Force inventory through the latter part of the decade.

Written by Jérôme Brahy

Jérôme Brahy is a defense analyst and documentalist at Army Recognition. He specializes in naval modernization, aviation, drones, armored vehicles, and artillery, with a focus on strategic developments in the United States, China, Ukraine, Russia, Türkiye, and Belgium. His analyses go beyond the facts, providing context, identifying key actors, and explaining why defense news matters on a global scale.