The new Common Multi-Mission Truck, or CMMT, will cost a relatively humble $150,000 per unit.
Lockheed Martin is testing a new, “cheap” cruise missile to complement the company’s existing “expensive” cruise missiles, the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM). The new, cheap complement will be known as the Common Multi-Mission Truck, or CMMT, and will cost a relatively humble $150,000 per unit (in contrast, the JASSM and LRASM cost about $1.5 million per unit). The point of the CMMT is to give U.S. forces a cruise missile option for targets that don’t require the sophistication of the JASSM/LRASM; in theory, U.S. forces will be able to procure the CMMT in larger numbers, hence engaging more targets, without wasting resources or sophisticated weaponry on targets that don’t require sophisticated weaponry.
Testing the low-end
The CMMT will be cheap and simple—but still feature modularity and open mission systems architecture, meaning the missile will be able to carry a wide spectrum of payloads, everything from sensors to warheads. The new missile will measure 96 inches long (but could be longer if extra fuel plugs are added) and is expected to fit within the internal weapons bay of Lockheed’s F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The CMMT is expected to have a subsonic top speed and a range of a few hundred miles.
“The Air Force has made it clear it wants a low-cost, producible-at-scale weapon,” Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. Accordingly, Lockheed has been working on the CMMT for “a while now.” Still, the program is progressing methodically; a finished product is not expected within a year. Testing is still underway, with drop-tests completed and more tests planned for this summer. So far, the CMMT tests have included “vertical, nose-first drops” but to deploy from a fighter or bomber aircraft, the CMMT “would be mounted on standard pylons or rotary launchers,” meaning tests from those launch platforms still need to occur.
Keeping costs down
To keep program costs down, the CMMT will not be nearly as stealthy as its cousins, JASSM/LRASM. So, the JASSM/LRASM will be available for targets that require stealth to engage from long ranges undetected, while the CMMT can handle everything else.
“JASSM and LRASM are great weapons, but they’re not cheap, right?” said Michael Rothstein, a Lockheed executive. The CMMT will allow the United States “to have more weapons in your arsenal to … get after targets that don’t need the exquisite capabilities of JASSM/LRASM.” Rothstein added, “You could probably imagine how you might force-package these things together to be mutually reinforcing and make both better.”
Rothstein cited the mixture of stealthy F-117s and non-stealth F-16s; flying together; enemy detection systems would see the F-16s, but not the F-117s, and tailor a defensive response based on a misunderstanding of what was coming. “The same concept could be used in weapon salvos.”
Currently, Lockheed is working on CMMT without an Air Force contract for the missile. But of course, the CMMT is not being developed whimsically; Lockheed recognizes a gap in the market and is working to fill that gap.
About the Author: Harrison Kass
Harrison Kass is a senior defense and national security writer with over 1,000 total pieces on issues involving global affairs. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, Harrison joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. Harrison listens to Dokken.
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