The U.S. Air Force has given the go-ahead for full-rate production of Lockheed Martin's extended range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile.

JASSM-ER is an air-to-surface missile that successfully completed U.S. Air Force Initial Operational Test and Evaluation flight testing last year, achieving a 96 percent success rate -- 20 successes in 21 flights.

The cruise missile is armed with a dual-mode penetrator and blast-fragmentation warhead, an infrared seeker and Global Positioning System receiver, and has more than 2.5 times the range of the baseline JASSM, which is more than 230 miles.

"The full rate production decision demonstrates that our customer, at all levels of the U.S. Air Force, has confidence in JASSM-ER," said Jason Denney, long-range strike systems program director at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "JASSM-ER provides warfighters with a first day, first strike capability in an anti-access, area-denial environment."

The JASSM-ER is integrated Air Force B-1B bombers. The baseline JASSM is integrated on the U.S. Air Force's B-2, B-52, F-16, F-15E aircraft.

Australia also deploys the 2,000-pound missile on its F/A-18A/B fighters.