Lockheed Martin announced the latest flight tests of its Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) as it awaits a U.S. Army contract decision later this year. The tests demonstrated the dual modes of the Hellfire Romeo missile enhancement, which is ready for production, the manufacturer said.

The rail-launched JAGM twice struck stationary targets during recent government-led flight tests at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Lockheed Martin said July 13. In the first test, the missile flew 4 km, engaged its semi-active laser (SAL) seeker and hit the target. During the second test at the same distance, the missile acquired the target with the SAL seeker while simultaneously tracking it with millimeter wave radar (MMR) until impact.

“These flight tests demonstrate the maturity of Lockheed Martin’s JAGM design and prove our risk-mitigation success and readiness for production,” declared Frank St. John, the company’s vice president of tactical missiles and combat maneuver systems.

The SAL and MMR sensors are integrated in the front-end JAGM guidance section and mated with the missile bus of the AGM-114R Hellfire Romeo. The JAGM missile will replace earlier Hellfire, BGM-71 TOW and AGM-65 Maverick missiles on platforms including Army AH-64 Apache and Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper helicopters as well as Predator-based unmanned aircraft.

Lockheed Martin performed the tests under a $64 million continuing technology development contract the Army awarded it in August 2012. The manufacturer has responded to a request for proposals the Army released in February for JAGM engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) and low-rate initial production. It expects a contract award later this year.

Raytheon worked with Boeing to develop a tri-mode JAGM seeker, which adds an imaging infrared sensor. Due to budget constraints, the Army scaled back the requirement in 2012 to include just the SAL and MMR sensors. In 2013, the service selected Lockheed Martin’s design to continue the program. Raytheon confirmed to AIN that it chose not to submit a proposal for the EMD phase.

Lockheed Martin said the “modularity and open architecture” of its JAGM design will “readily support a low-risk path to a tri-mode seeker, should the Army’s incremental acquisition strategy require it in the future.”