The AASM production order has been hugely scaled back since then. Less than even the interim order of 2348 units. As a consequence, the unit cost is likely to be significantly greater today, even with supplementary orders from Egypt & Qatar.
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Sagem’s Armement Air-Sol Modulaire (AASM) Hammer SBU-38 precision guided munition (PGM) has been successfully launched from a Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon, the first launch of the PGM from a non-French made aircraft.
The firing test was carried out by the US Air Force’s (USAF’s) 40th Flight Test Squadron, operating out of the test centre in Eglin, Florida, on 30 May, sources told IHS Jane’s .
This successful launch is of key importance to Sagem in enabling it to offer the AASM to export customers equipped with the F-16. Currently, the only customer for the AASM is France which operates the PGM from its Dassault Rafale fighter aircraft. However, France’s order was dramatically reduced due to budgetary constraints from a planned 4,200 units to only 1,728 – meaning the company needs to find an export customer before mid-2016 in order to keep its production line open.
Sagem have designed the AASM to be compliant with NATO Universal Armament Interface (NUAI) standards – aimed at facilitating the functional integration of new weapons, without modification to the aircraft, and therefore reduce associated adaptation costs. This allowed the AASM to be fired by the USAF F-16, with the firing taking part due to French and United States participation in a NATO ‘Smart Defence’ project dedicated to the NUAI standard. This project also involves the NUAI programme office at the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
New order under LPM 2016 (160 i think)
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