The AGM-158 Extreme Range (XR) is a development of the proven Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) family of munitions which has established itself as the primary cruise (and heavy anti-ship, in its LRASM spin-off) missile for the US Armed Forces, as well as securing export orders and interest from multiple other countries.

Lockheed Martin has internally worked at the XR for some time, and has selected the Air, Space & Cyber 2024 conference, the biggest annual event organized by the Air Force Association. With the XR, Lockheed aims to anticipate the needs of the services and position itself for future orders. The XR carries over as much as possible of the physical and software architecture of the existing JASSM family while stretching the fuselage longer to make room for more fuel and for a 1,000 lbs class warhead. LM does not go beyond stating that the missile has a “significantly increased stand-off range” without specifying figures.

The Extended Range currently in production has a range of over 500 miles, which might be doubled in the XR variant. Lockheed Martin sees the AGM-158 XR as the beginning of a modular approach to the cruise missile, in which the anti-ship mission could again be accommodated, as well as perhaps different warhead options and, indeed, a smaller warhead to make room for even more fuel.

JASSM production is aiming for a capacity of up to 1,100 missiles per year in the future, and the XR could be accommodated into this. Despite the growth in size and weight, the XR should still be compatible with all US JASSM-carrying aircraft: certainly with the bombers and Boeing F-15s, but also with the Boeing F-18E/F SUPER HORNET. The legacy HORNETs, still in use with the USMC and recently readied for JASSM employment, is probably not a concern as it will be replaced by F-35s in the next few years.

Being an internally funded project, flight testing is at least a couple years away, but if the Pentagon was to express interest, timelines would probably be compressed.

The semi-gloss black coating applied to the XR mock-up presented at the event will become the standard coating for all JASSM going forward as it helps reduce their visibility compared to the grey finish used so far.

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