Lockheed Martin and Roketsan to jointly develop future SOM-J cruise missile

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World Industry Defense & Security News - Lockheed Martin & Roketsan
 
 
Lockheed Martin and Roketsan to jointly develop future SOM-J cruise missile
 
Roketsan and Lockheed Martin signed a agreement yesterday for collaboration on the SOM-J, a new generation air-to-surface Standoff Cruise Missile for the F-35 Lightning II. The SOM system is an autonomous, long-range, low-observable, all-weather, precision air-to-surface cruise missile. The SOM-J variant is tailored for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft. The companies will jointly develop, produce, market and support SOM-J for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft or external carriage on other aircraft.
     
F-35 Lightning II SOM-J air-launched cruise missile separation tests in wind tunnel
     

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Executive Vice President Rick Edwards and Roketsan Chairman of the Board Eyüp Kaptan signed the agreement.

Lockheed Martin has a long history of partnership with the Republic of Turkey, and we look forward to working closely with Roketsan on this very important project,” Edwards said. “SOM-J will provide the F-35 and other aircraft an exceptional capability to meet the most challenging mission requirements. We look forward to combining the skills and know-how of our two great companies to produce a world-class system to meet customers’ expanding needs for long-range, survivable cruise missile technology.

At Roketsan, we believe this teaming will increase the attention on SOM-J and present a superior solution to fulfill the requirements of anti-surface warfare capabilities on the F-35 aircraft,” Kaptan said. “We value our partnership with Lockheed Martin and look forward to additional business opportunities in the future."

The SOM can be used against stationary and moving targets at a distance of over 180 kilometers.

SOM-J is a low observable SOM variant designed to fit internal weapon bay of the F-35 Lightning II jet.

Another major difference is the warhead of SOM-J which is anti-ship and semi-armour piercing type with blast/fragmentation effects on soft targets (i.e. personnel, unarmoured military vehicles, radars, buildings, etc.).