BAE Systems Accelerates LRASM RF Sensor Deliveries to Arm More U.S. Stealth Anti-Ship Missiles

BAE Systems has delivered all Lot 8 units of its radio-frequency (RF) sensor for the AGM-158C Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) to prime contractor Lockheed Martin, the company announced on November 10, 2026. BAE Systems said it invested in modernized electronic warfare production facilities to meet an accelerated schedule, and it remains under contract to supply LRASM RF sensors through 2028.

The milestone lands as the Pentagon pushes LRASM out of the low-volume production model that defined its first decade. In July 2026, the Air Force expanded its two procurement contracts for the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and LRASM families from an anticipated 16,710 missiles to 23,095. A September 9, 2026, modification then added $825.98 million to the JASSM/LRASM Large Lot Procurement contract, lifting its cumulative value to roughly $10.5 billion with work running through July 2030. BAE Systems itself states that LRASM will scale significantly in 2026 and beyond.

Inside the LRASM RF Sensor: Passive Targeting for Contested Seas

LRASM grew out of a 2009 Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) effort answering a 2008 request from U.S. Pacific Fleet for a long-range anti-ship capability. It became a Navy program of record in February 2014 under the Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) Increment 1 requirement and reached early operational capability on the B-1B Lancer in December 2018.

The missile reuses the low-observable airframe of the AGM-158B JASSM-Extended Range (JASSM-ER), powered by a Williams International F107-WR-105 turbofan, and carries the same 1,000-pound penetrator/blast-fragmentation warhead. Publicly available specifications indicate a length of about 14 feet and a stated air-launched range in excess of 200 nautical miles.

What separates LRASM from its land-attack sibling is the guidance package. Open-source descriptions of the multimode seeker pair the BAE Systems passive RF sensor, which locates targets from their emissions, with an imaging infrared seeker for target recognition, alongside a weapon data link and enhanced digital anti-jam GPS. Because the RF sensor listens rather than radiates, the missile can detect, classify, and close on emitting ships without exposing itself to an adversary’s electronic support measures. That design reduces dependence on offboard intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) cueing and on GPS, the two links a peer adversary would contest first in a Western Pacific fight.

BAE Systems also disclosed a sensor software upgrade, validated through extensive verification testing, that adds capability digitally without hardware changes. The company has not detailed the content of the update. The approach mirrors the wider LRASM roadmap: according to Navy budget documents, the AGM-158C-3 variant adds new software, an enhanced beyond-line-of-sight weapon data link, and JASSM-ER range, reported at around 600 miles.

Scaling Seeker Production for the Large Lot Missile Buy

BAE Systems has built LRASM seekers under successive Lockheed Martin subcontracts, including a $60 million award in 2020, a $117 million contract in 2021 for Lots 4 and 5, and a $38 million follow-on in 2022. The 2021 contract introduced a next-generation seeker redesigned under a diminishing-sources and affordability effort, replacing obsolescent and limited-availability parts and simplifying manufacturing to reduce system cost. That redesign also reduced exposure to component obsolescence, a recurring risk for low-rate munitions whose electronics outlive their original parts suppliers.

The November 10 announcement adds an industrial detail. Engineering, design, and manufacturing now span four BAE Systems electronic warfare sites in Austin, Texas; Greenlawn, New York; Nashua, New Hampshire; and Wayne, New Jersey. The company’s 2022 seeker announcement listed only the three northeastern sites, which suggests Austin is a newer node in the production footprint. BAE Systems has not disclosed Lot 8 quantities, the value of its contract through 2028, the size of its facility investment, or a target annual output rate.

That missing figure matters. Lockheed Martin says roughly $2 billion of its recent capacity investment went specifically to accelerating munitions production, and the Air Force’s July 2026 contract expansion raised the planned JASSM and LRASM production run by more than 6,000 missiles. A prime can add airframe lines and final assembly cells, but every LRASM still requires one RF sensor built from specialized RF and microwave electronics. LRASM is built on the JASSM-ER, but its passive RF sensor has no equivalent on the land-attack missile. Any shortfall at the seeker stage would leave finished airframes waiting for guidance sections.

Analysis: Contract ceilings measure intent; seeker throughput measures capacity. Unlike the airframe, engine, and warhead it shares with JASSM-ER, the LRASM RF sensor has no high-volume sister program to absorb fixed costs, so its output effectively caps how many anti-ship rounds the joint force can field. BAE Systems investing ahead of demand, adding a fourth site, and pushing capability through software rather than new hardware points to a supplier preparing for rate, not simply closing out a lot. With allied Foreign Military Sales demand flowing through the same Large Lot structure, sustained sensor output is a prerequisite for credible maritime deterrence in the Indo-Pacific.

The next markers are concrete. The Navy has said it plans to field the AGM-158C-3 configuration in fall 2026, and platform integration continues to widen after a B-2 Spirit launched an LRASM during a Valiant Shield 2026 sinking exercise on June 27, 2026. The open question is whether BAE Systems converts its through-2028 contract into the higher annual quantities that LRASM Lots 9 to 12, slated for completion by 2033, will demand.