Reference News Network, December 29 report: The U.S. "National Interest" bi-monthly website published an article on December 27 with the title "The U.S. New Joint Strike Missile is Key to Beyond Visual Range Combat," written by Brandon Wichter. The full text is as follows:

The Norwegian Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace Company has been awarded a fixed-price contract worth $240 million to produce the second batch of Joint Strike Missiles (JSM) for the U.S. Air Force. According to the Belgian "Military Review" website: "This single-source contract covers missiles, containers, test hardware, and support equipment. The work will be carried out in Norway, with a deadline of November 30, 2028."

The Joint Strike Missile is designed for internal carriage on the F-35A "Lightning" II fifth-generation multirole fighter.

The Joint Strike Missile is a stealth air-launched cruise missile used for land and sea attacks, weighing about 416 kilograms and measuring approximately four meters in length. It can reach high subsonic speeds, with a range of about 350 kilometers, and is equipped with a fragmentation explosive warhead. The Global Positioning System, inertial navigation system, terrain matching guidance system, and an infrared imaging seeker with automatic target recognition ensure the weapon's high precision.

This is crucial in today's increasingly complex electronic environment. GPS satellite signals may be blocked, and having other guidance systems provides redundancy.

The weapon itself is designed with stealth features, and its stealth performance is even better when carried internally on the F-35A. Additionally, the F/A-18 and F-15E aircraft can also carry this weapon.

The low-level sea-skimming flight characteristics of the Joint Strike Missile enable it to evade missile defense systems. Interestingly, the Joint Strike Missile is actually a derivative of the Kongsberg Naval Strike Missile, modified for air launch.

According to the U.S. defense blog site: "The Joint Strike Missile is expected to serve as a complement to other strike weapons of the U.S. Air Force and Navy, offering more options for penetrating air defense airspace. When carried internally by the F-35, the missile allows the aircraft to strike targets from a greater distance, while reducing the risk of exposure to enemy air defense systems."

The Ukraine-Russia conflict has shown that advanced air defense systems pose a challenge to traditional air warfare theories. Russia has come to realize that it can no longer project overwhelming air power into the combat zone as it did before. As a result, Russia has adjusted its air warfare theory, focusing on beyond visual range combat capabilities.

Through beyond visual range combat, Russia ensures higher chances of survival for its aircraft when conducting missions against Ukrainian targets, while still successfully bombing the targets.

Today, everyone understands that past air warfare plans of armies are no longer applicable. With increasingly complex air defense systems, along with the emergence of drone swarms and other interference technologies, even for some of the world's most powerful air forces, air superiority has become fleeting.

Therefore, Americans have had to readjust their weapons and tactics to adapt to this reality: in modern battlefields, air strikes will become more complex, even when facing enemies seemingly weaker than the U.S. military. This is why the new Joint Strike Missile is so important to the U.S. Air Force and Navy. (Translated by Tu Qi)

Original: toutiao.com/article/7589099162457653802/

Statement: The article represents the personal views of the author.