AASM Hammer

A modular French rocket-boosted precision glide-bomb kit that transforms 125–1,000 kg standard bombs into all-weather, jam-resistant stand-off weapons, operational since 2008 and a linchpin of Ukraine's air-to-surface strike capability against Russian GPS denial.

Overview

The AASM (Armement Air-Sol Modulaire), marketed as the Hammer (Highly Agile Modular Munition Extended Range), is a family of bolt-on guidance and range-extension kits manufactured by France's Safran Electronics & Defense. Fitted to existing general-purpose bomb bodies ranging from 125 kg to 1,000 kg, the kit combines rear-mounted folding fins and a solid-propellant rocket booster with a nose-mounted guidance section, producing a "rocket-bomb hybrid" capable of all-weather precision attack from stand-off distances and low-altitude release profiles. The weapon has been combat-proven in French service since 2008 and has become a signature Western munition in the Russo-Ukrainian War, where its resistance to GNSS jamming sets it apart from unboosted allied glide bombs.

Development

The French defence procurement agency (DGA) launched the AASM program in 1997, seeking a modular stand-off precision weapon that could be released from low altitude while the launch aircraft remained masked from ground-based air defenses. SAGEM (later absorbed into Safran) won the contract in 2000, and flight validation trials ran from December 2004 to July 2005, according to Wikipedia. The weapon officially entered French Air and Space Force service on the Rafale in 2007. A second production tranche, bringing the total order to 2,348 kits at a program cost of approximately €846 million, was authorized in 2009.

The original INS/GPS variant was followed by an imaging-infrared (IIR) version qualified in July 2008 and a semi-active laser (SALH) version qualified in April 2013, as detailed by Army Recognition. The 1,000 kg bomb-body variant completed qualification for the Rafale F4 standard in early 2023. To reduce unit cost, Safran developed the AASM Evolution (Block IV), targeting a per-kit price around €80,000, per a 2017 report by Wikipedia. The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine reversed a sleepy production tempo; output was quadrupled from pre-war levels, and at the June 2025 Paris Air Show, Safran unveiled the Hammer XLR family, an extended-range variant with apparent air intakes suggestive of a turbojet or solid-fuel ramjet, aiming for a range envelope of 150–200 km, though official specifications remain unpublished, according to Defence Express.

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