The B-52 Stratofortress may soon join the U.S. military's anti-ship strike force. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) intends to hand Lockheed Martin the work of integrating the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) onto the bomber, Air & Space Forces Magazine reported. That would let the long-range bomber carry a stealthy weapon built to hit moving warships. The command posted the notice on Oct. 7, 2026. It describes a planned award, not a signed contract, and the reporting gives no price or delivery date.
The notice says the anticipated award "is for efforts associated with LRASM integration on the B-52 aircraft platform, to include missile software updates, associated testing, test asset repair, and failure review boards." Because the B-52 already carries up to 20 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSMs), the airframe LRASM is built on, the integration points toward a single bomber that could carry a load of up to 20 anti-ship missiles.
What the NAVAIR Notice Covers for the B-52
The scope listed in the notice is engineering and test work, not missile production. Missile software updates are what let a weapon talk to a new launch platform and accept its targeting data. Associated testing would prove the pairing works in flight. Test asset repair covers the instrumented rounds used in those trials. Failure review boards are the formal process for tracing and fixing anomalies that come up during testing.
Naval News summarized the same notice as an intent to award Lockheed "for work to integrate LRASM with the B-52," covering "associated testing, missile software updates and test asset repair." Defence Industry Europe, drawing on the Air & Space Forces report, wrote that the work "would expand the aircraft's maritime strike options by enabling it to use LRASM against moving targets at sea."
Lockheed did not add detail. Spokesperson Scott Swofford declined to describe the effort and referred questions to the Pentagon, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. Spokespeople for NAVAIR and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center did not immediately respond to the magazine. Swofford did promote the weapon itself: "As a precise, stealthy and survivable cruise missile, LRASM provides multiservice, multiplatform, and multimission capabilities for offensive anti-surface warfare," he said.
Why 20 LRASMs on One Bomber Matters
LRASM, designated AGM-158C, is a maritime strike derivative of JASSM, and the two missiles share similar dimensions. Air & Space Forces Magazine reported that LRASM's range sits close to the baseline JASSM, just beyond 200 miles. Naval News put the figure at more than 370 kilometers and called it "one of the most capable ship-sinking munitions in active U.S. service."
Retired Air Force Col. Mark Gunzinger, a former B-52 pilot and now director of future concepts and capability assessments at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, told Air & Space Forces Magazine the change would carry weight in a major war. "A handful of B-52s will be able to deliver more weapons on maritime targets and do so over much longer ranges than the Navy's carrier-based aircraft per day," he said.
Gunzinger went further on the bomber fleet's role. "The Air Force's bomber force will be our military's predominant maritime strike force, considering the number of anti-ship cruise missiles they can carry per sortie and deliver over intercontinental ranges, if necessary," he said. He added that the approach would let commanders strike ships from airbases in lower-threat areas without putting aircraft carriers at risk.
From a 2019 Idea to a 2026 Notice
The B-52 pairing is not new. Naval News first reported the possibility of putting LRASM on the B-52 in 2019, but the idea then sat idle for several years, Air & Space Forces Magazine noted.
Meanwhile, LRASM spread across other platforms. The B-1B Lancer was the first bomber to field the missile; the Air Force reached early operational capability on it in 2018, and the Navy followed on the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet in 2019, according to a timeline the magazine published. Flight testing began on the F-35C in 2024 and expanded to the F-35B in 2025. In June 2026, the Air Force disclosed that a B-2A Spirit had used a LRASM to strike a decommissioned amphibious transport vessel during a Pacific exercise. That was the first time the U.S. military acknowledged B-2 use of the missile.
Naval News reported that LRASM was fired in at least four instances this summer during exercises around Hawaii and the Western Pacific, launched from bombers, maritime patrol aircraft and naval fighters. Before LRASM arrived, the outlet noted, American air-launched maritime strike relied solely on the Cold War-era AGM-84 Harpoon. The Navy now plans to pair LRASM with the low-cost Blackbeard High-Speed Long Range Maritime Strike Weapon as key parts of the future carrier air wing, according to a Tailhook 2026 presentation cited by Naval News.
Can JASSM and LRASM Production Keep Up?
A larger B-52 anti-ship role would draw on a missile line that is already stretched. Air & Space Forces Magazine, citing Pentagon acquisition reports released in July, said Lockheed had delivered 5,348 JASSMs to both services as of April. The company's current production capacity is 600 JASSMs a year, with short-term plans to raise that to 860 a year.
The magazine also cited a Center for a New American Security estimate that the Air Force used up a quarter of its JASSM inventory during Operation Epic Fury. The Air Force spent $200 million in fiscal 2025 on a second-source engine for LRASM and JASSM-ER. In September, Lockheed introduced a JASSM-FLEX variant with swappable noses and payloads, which the magazine said might include an LRASM option.
What It Means for Contractors
NAVAIR aimed this notice at Lockheed by name, so the near-term work goes to the company that produces both JASSM and LRASM. The tasks it lists, including software updates, testing, test asset repair and failure review boards, point to integration and test support work that often reaches subcontractors in weapons software, test instrumentation and range operations. Firms already supporting JASSM integration on the B-52 or LRASM testing on other aircraft have the most direct connection to the effort.
The notice also signals demand beyond this one award. If the B-52 is cleared to carry up to 20 LRASMs, the Air Force's need for anti-ship rounds grows with it, adding pressure to a JASSM and LRASM supply chain that Lockheed is already working to expand. Suppliers of energetics, engines, seekers and airframe components for the AGM-158 family should watch for follow-on production actions. Contractors tracking this effort should also watch for the formal award announcement, which would confirm the contract type, value and schedule that the current reporting does not disclose.
