The United States has approved a possible foreign military sale to Belgium for AGM-184 Joint Strike Missiles and related equipment, a package the US State Department values at up to 236 million dollars.
The US State Department made the determination on 18 May 2026, with the US Defense Security Cooperation Agency notifying Congress under transmittal number 26-52. According to the notification, Belgium has requested the missiles themselves along with spare and repair parts, training aids and devices, test and multi-purpose missile equipment, classified and unclassified software and support, technical publications, transportation support, and US government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics services.
The AGM-184 is the US designation for the Joint Strike Missile, a long-range, low-observable precision weapon developed by Norway’s Kongsberg. Designed for both anti-ship and land-attack roles, the missile is notable for being sized to fit inside the internal weapons bay of the F-35A, allowing the aircraft to carry it without compromising the stealth shaping that external stores would degrade.
Its combination of low radar signature, a sea-skimming and terrain-following flight profile and a range of several hundred kilometres is intended to let a launching aircraft engage targets from well outside the reach of many shorter-range defences.
Two principal contractors were named: Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace of Kongsberg, Norway, which builds the missile, and RTX Corporation of Arlington, Virginia.
This would make a very good purchase for the UKs F35 fleet a 550km range air launched Antiship and land attack missile is just what the CBG and Wider RAF F35 fleet needs.. essentially turn the f35 fleet ( including the new As) into a maritime strike force.. let the typhoons do airspace defence and land attack functions as well as support in overseas deployments.
The problem is that they are too big to fit into the weapons bay of our F35b planes (the Belgians fly the A variant) so they’d have to go on the wings and would ruin the stealth of the aircraft.
Right now, until Spear3, there’s no cruise missile that will fit inside the B.
While true, that wouldn’t prevent an F-35B in stealth configuration acting as a forward spotter for a flight or two each carrying two or at a push four on the wing pylons sort of like an ASh Beast Mode and then relaying targetting information for aircraft well over the horizon where stealth is less important. Especially if they can carry 8 SDB-IIs in the bays for after the JSMs are on the way.
That is a lot of ordnance in the air of you have one spotter and seven bomb trucks. Fourteen JSMs and 64 SDB-IIs. Not quite as good as 14 JSMs and 64 Spear 3’s but it would be something.
Two sorties like that, 16 total aircraft and that would probably ruin the day of many single surface combatant. For something a little more resilient our carriers can carry 36 or more aircraft so even keeping a CAP back you could sortie 24 for 46 JSMs and 192 SDB-IIs. Pretty sure that will ruin almost anyone’s day. Especially when you come back and do it again.
Indeed but a 500km range cruise missile negates the need for stealthy platforms…
Just have one clean aircraft that can be the ISTAR and kill chain sensor platform.. then others launch from below the horizon 500km away.
Also they are buying a squadron worth of As as well so it actually gives them a weapon that makes the purchase somewhat worth while… as a deep strike platform.
We should do our own SR version to fit in the F35B and then order the F35C model.
Grrrr.
Now now mate….don’t go over to the dark side like me and a few other grizzled Defence watchers.
Not yet anyway, you’re too young.
Imagine if the announcement had been this not SDBII though…
True!
I’m with J on this, have long wanted an ASM on our jets as high priority as opposed to a heavy ASM on our ships.
Ships don’t tend to act like Jutland lobbing ASM at each other. Aircraft can hold opfor ships at risk at range, once they are found.
Remember Sea Eagle?
‘Remember’ is quite a precise term, Daniele…
I agree completely with Jonathan’s argument, which he has played out many times, on the supremacy of jet and helicopter anti-ship weapons over surface launch. I’m not a fan of relying on the USA to launch anti-ship missiles from our carriers (F35 or even MQ9B now), I’d rather we evolved Sea Venom with a turbojet into a much more capable missiles as the Japanese do with their own series repeatedly, but JSM would be a good interim step.