Australia selected the AGM-158 JASSM for its AIR 5418 Follow-on Standoff Weapon (FOSOW) requirement in 2006, deliveries of the weapon was supposed to start last year. Until now the weapon has yet to be fitted to a RAAF F/A-18 for testing.
The long-range cruise missile is suppose to allow the RAAF Hornets to strike targets previously carried out by the F-111. But the Aardvark will be retired by the end of this year, leaving Australia without an alternative solution.
The delay in fielding the weapon has been blamed on the U.S. Navy which is slow in releasing the software to the RAAF.