Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] announced today it submitted a proposal in response to the government’s Request for Proposal (RFP) for the next phases of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) program.

“Lockheed Martin’s JAGM builds on HELLFIRE, LONGBOW and Javelin, three of the most trusted precision-guided weapons on the battlefield today,” said Frank St. John, vice president of Tactical Missiles at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. “Our JAGM offering will provide U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps warfighters with the next product in that line, an affordable weapon that will offer the decisive edge in combat.”

The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Command issued the RFP for Engineering and Manufacturing and Low-Rate Initial Production for the JAGM program on April 13, with a submittal deadline of June 6.

“Our proposed JAGM weapon system can provide significant performance advantages to help save warfighter lives,” St. John said. “And with hot, high-volume production lines already in place for HELLFIRE, Javelin and the M299 launcher family, we can provide a critically needed capability at an affordable price and with best value over program life.”

Lockheed Martin is partnered with some of the industry’s leading suppliers on the JAGM program. Aerojet, a GenCorp [NYSE: GY] company, will provide the JAGM rocket motor for all six threshold JAGM platforms. GenCorp is headquartered in Sacramento, Calif., with production facilities in Camden, Ark. Marvin Engineering, headquartered in Inglewood, Calif., will provide launchers for all six threshold platforms. General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems (GD-OTS), a business unit of General Dynamics [NYSE: GD], will provide the multi-purpose warhead with significant HELLFIRE commonality. GD-OTS is headquartered in Saint Petersburg, Fla., with production in Niceville, Fla.

Work on the JAGM program will be performed in Orlando and Ocala, Fla., and Troy, Ala., as well at suppliers’ facilities across the U.S. Contract award is expected during fourth quarter 2011.

JAGM is the next-generation air-to-surface guided missile that will replace the aging Airborne TOW, Maverick and HELLFIRE family of missiles for the U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps.

Initial operational capability (IOC) of JAGM on the Army’s AH 64D Apache, the USMC’s AH 1Z Cobra attack helicopter and the Navy’s F/A 18E/F Super Hornet jet fighter is scheduled for 2016. IOC for the Navy’s MH 60R Seahawk armed reconnaissance helicopter, the Army’s OH 58 cockpit and sensor upgrade program for the Kiowa Warrior armed reconnaissance helicopter and the Army’s extended range multi-purpose unmanned aerial system is 2017.

Lockheed Martin press release