America Bolsters Defense with $4.5B Investment in Cutting-Edge аttаck Helicopter Missiles

On some level, you could sаy the world is going about its business as normal, but there’s a palpable tension in the air. It keeps spreading from the two main wars in Europe and the Middle East to everything and everyone else.That’s clear from the fact that countries all over the world are re-arming their armies faster and making new weapons all the time. In this situation, even attempts to modernize that began a long time ago and have nothing to do with Ukrаine or Gaza seem to have a bad meaning.

But getting new weapons like Joint-Air-to-Ground Missiles (JAGM) and Hellfires for American and allied troops is linked to both wars. It all began in March 2023 when a multi-year deal was given to Lockheed Martin, the company that makes these missiles.

Two follow-on awards from the U.S. Army since the beginning of the year, and a third one was revealed this week. In fact, it’s a $483 million deal to sell these weapons to the U.S. Army, the U.S. Navy, and a number of allies. Therefore, the deal has grown to a total of $4.5 billiоn until 2025.

Irregular-to-ground mιssιle is what the JAGM is called. The weapon can be carried by the U.S. Army AH-64E Apache and Marine Corps AH-1Z Viper аttаck helicopters, as well as other aircraft, such as drones. It has an eight-kilometer (five-mile) range and finds its target using a semi-active laser and millimeter-wave radar. The mιssιle has been in use since 2022 and is meant to finally replace the Hellfire and Maverick missiles.

One of the best known American rockets is the Hellfire. It was first used in 1984 by about the same aircraft platforms as the JAGM. It can strike from up to six miles (10 km) away, using the same kind of hardware to guide itself.

At the moment, the Hellfire is being used by about 30 people, many of whom are from other countries. According to the terms of this new deal, Poland will now be one of the countries that use it.

Orlando, Florida-based Lockheed Martin makes both types of rockets. Taking into account how quickly the JAGM was replaced, over 140,000 missiles have been made there since the Hellfire was introduced.

U.S. Marines with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 369, Marine Aircraft Group (MAG) 39, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (MAW), fire an AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile at a moving maritime target from an AH-1Z Viper during exercise Steel Knight 23, over the Pacific Ocean, Dec. 7, 2022. MAG-39 conducts sea denial operations to enable littoral operations in contested environments. Exercise Steel Knight 23 provides 3rd MAW an opportunity to refine Wing-level warfighting in support of I Marine Expeditionary Force and fleet maneuver. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Sgt. Samuel Fletcher)

As an example of how big the $4.5 million deal is, the Hellfire is selling for $150,000 and the JAGM is for $319,000. There are very high costs for almost everything, but with the way things are now, they might be worth it—hopefully not to use, but to stop.