• A Missile’s Combat Debut Allowed U.S. Bombers to Stay Away From Syrian Air Defenses.
    https://warisboring.com/a-missiles-combat-debut-allowed-u-s-bombers-to-stay-away-from-syrian-ai

    Lockheed Martin’s stealthy new AGM-158B Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range — JASSM-ER — made its debut on the raid on Syria on April 13.

    A pair of U.S. Air Force Rockwell International B-1B Lancer strategic bombers launched 19 of the new air-launched cruise missiles against the Barzeh Research and Development Center near Damascus.

    “The B-1s employed the JASSM, our joint-standoff missile,” Joint Staff Director Lt. Gen. Kenneth F. McKenzie, Jr. told reporters at the Pentagon on the morning of April 14. “So that was the weapon that they used. B-1s were accompanied by U.S. fighters up to the launch-and-release point, as a normal way you’d integrate an air package, to provide protection to the bombers.”

    Indeed, the addition of the JASSM-ER made the aerial portion of the raid on the Syrian research lab possible. While the B-1B was a capable bomber initially when its was fielded in the 1980s, the aircraft is not survivable against modern air defenses and has to rely on standoff weapons when faced with a conventional foe.

    In this case, while Russian forces in Syria did not attempt engage allied forces, the very presence of advanced Russian surface-to-air missile defenses such as the S-300V4 and the S-400 — which have a range of 250 nautical miles if equipped with the appropriate missiles — necessitated the use of the JASSM-ER’s standoff capability.