The American defense giant Lockheed Martin has two classified programs on which it plans to spend approximately $1.9 billion, including over $410 million for a project in the aeronautics sector, and more than $1.4 billion on a "secret munition" being developed by the Missiles and Fire Control division.
This information was shared by the president and CEO of Lockheed Martin, as reported by The Air and Space Forces Magazine. For understandable reasons, he did not provide any specifics regarding these "secret programs," but asserted that the overall funding situation in the aforementioned division is expected to improve.
He assured that the pricing structure for the next phases of these projects should be transparent and expressed hope for a "reasonable margin." He also emphasized that these projects are essential based on his experience as a former pilot in the U.S. Air Force.
As for what lies behind the "secret" programs, if we discuss the first item, namely aeronautics, it is highly likely that it pertains to an unnamed "advanced reconnaissance drone."
Regarding the munition, there is a possibility that it refers to the successor of the AIM-120 AMRAAM air-to-air missile, specifically the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile (JATM).
This missile was once described by the U.S. defense department as "priority number one" for both the Air Force and the Navy.
However, the program is being implemented with delays - initially, it was expected to be operational in 2022 or 2023; in the spring of 2023, the U.S. Air Force reported that the project was on schedule, but by 2024, there had been no announcement regarding the start of full-scale production of this weapon. Overall, the service provides limited information about this project, with the only known fact being that testing began in 2023.
A telling aspect of this project is that the year before last, the U.S. announced plans to significantly increase funding for the production of AIM-120 AMRAAM missiles.
This has prompted a broader reflection on the future of the AIM-260 JATM missile; however, the U.S. Air Force has stated that there are no issues with it, and the decision regarding the production of AIM-120 AMRAAM is linked to the general trend of increasing munition production.