Lockheed-Roketsan team to develop SOM-J missile for F-35

Turkish missile maker Roketsan and Lockheed Martin signed a teaming agreement today for collaboration on the SOM-J, a new generation air-...

Turkish missile maker Roketsan and Lockheed Martin signed a teaming agreement today for collaboration on the SOM-J, a new generation air-to-surface Standoff Cruise Missile for the F-35 Lightning II.

Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control Executive Vice President Rick Edwards and Roketsan Chairman of the Board Eyüp Kaptan signed the agreement.

The SOM is an autonomous, long-range, low-observable, all-weather, precision air-to-surface cruise missile developed and currently operational with Turkey. Lockheed and Roketsan will develop the -J variant tailored for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft. The companies will jointly develop, produce, market and support SOM-J for internal carriage on the F-35 aircraft or external carriage on other aircraft.

The SOM is designed to operate in hostile environments and can be used against heavily defended high value land and sea surface targets.
The SOM missile family, which can launched from land, sea and air platforms was developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE, Defence Research and Development Institute of Turkey. The missile had a launch weight of 600 kg and can carry a 230 kg warhead to over 100+ nautical miles.