US Navy moves to arm B-52 bombers with stealthy LRASM anti-ship missiles

The US Navy has moved to put Lockheed Martin's AGM-158C Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) on the Air Force's B-52H Stratofortress bombers, reviving an integration effort that stalled several years ago. A Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) notice posted on 7 October says the command intends to negotiate on a sole-source basis with Lockheed's Missiles and Fire Control unit and then award it a cost-plus-fixed-fee delivery order for the work.

The order would cover missile software updates, associated testing, repair of test assets and failure review boards, according to the notice. NAVAIR, which manages LRASM procurement, says Lockheed alone has the knowledge, experience and technical data to meet the requirement in the time needed. No price or schedule has been agreed, and responses to the notice are due by 22 October.

Up to 20 missiles per bomber

The B-52 can already carry up to 20 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM), eight on an internal rotary launcher and six on each wing pylon. LRASM is derived from the JASSM and shares its general shape and dimensions, but the notice does not say how many of the anti-ship missiles a B-52 would carry.

LRASM is built to find and hit high-value warships in heavily defended waters. It combines GPS-aided inertial navigation with an imaging infrared seeker, an onboard electronic support measures system for route planning and a datalink for threat updates in flight. Its range has not been disclosed, though the baseline missile is reported to reach targets roughly 200 to 300 miles away.

The idea is not new. Naval News reported in 2019 that 10 million dollars had been set aside to study B-52 integration, but Lockheed confirmed to FlightGlobal in 2023 that the work was no longer under way. The missile is already cleared on the B-1B bomber and the Navy's F/A-18E/F, is being tested on the F-35 and the P-8A patrol aircraft, and was fired from a B-2 bomber during a sinking exercise over the Philippine Sea in June, even though the B-2 is not formally certified for it.

Why it matters for Taiwan

A 2022 unclassified wargame by the Center for Strategic and International Studies concluded that arming US bombers with LRASMs would be among the most important American capabilities for defeating an invasion of Taiwan, FlightGlobal reported. Mark Cancian, the retired Marine colonel who led that wargame, told the publication on 9 October that putting the missile on the B-52 was critical to US success in a western Pacific conflict with China, because the bomber can carry many missiles and fly from bases outside China's defensive zone.

Mark Gunzinger, a retired Air Force colonel and former B-52 pilot now at the Mitchell Institute, told Air & Space Forces Magazine that a handful of B-52s could deliver more weapons on maritime targets each day, and over much longer ranges, than the Navy's carrier-based aircraft.

Supply is the catch. Lockheed builds JASSM and LRASM on shared lines that turn out only around 1,000 missiles a year combined, FlightGlobal reported, so a new launch platform would add capacity to strike an invasion fleet from a distance but would also compete with fighters and bombers already waiting for the same missiles.