DARPA said Monday the Lockheed Martin-designed missile navigated its way to a set of predesignated waypoints and worked to detect, track and avoid a target object during a flight test over at Point Mugu, California, sea test range Wednesday.
âWe are very pleased with how LRASM performed today and we are looking forward to continuing integration efforts on the Air Force B-1, followed by our Navy F/A-18, over the next few years,â said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, a Navy program manager.
The LRASM weapon is being developed to counter maritime threats during operations in anti-access/area denial environments, according to DARPA.
The air-launched system underwent initial testing in 2013 and is scheduled for operational deployment in 2018.
DARPA says the LRASM program aims to follow rapid prototyping and technology acquisition strategies recommended in the Pentagon’s Better Buying Power 3.0 framework.