Raytheon ready to flight-test an extended-range powered and data-linked JSOW to attack moving ships

[F-22Raptor]

PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md. – Smart munitions experts at the Raytheon Co. are making plans to flight-test a powered and extended-range version of the data-linked AGM-154C-1 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) to attack moving maritime targets like enemy surface warships.

Officials of the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md., announced an $8.9 million contract Tuesday to the Raytheon Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., to flight-test extended range capability for the Joint Standoff Weapon AGM-154C-1 all-up-round.

The AGM-154C-1 JSOW adds a Link-16 weapon data link and moving maritime target capability to the AGM-154C JSOW, which has an infrared seeker for terminal guidance, instead of the Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance system of other JSOW variants.

Adding a weapon data link and updated seeker software algorithms to the JSOW provides new capability to enable the munition to attack moving and relocatable targets.

Extending the range of the AGM-154C-1 involves adding a Hamilton-Sundstrand TJ-150 turbojet engine to the ordinarily unpowered JSOW to extend the smart munition's range from 70 to 300 nautical miles.

JSOW is a joint venture between the U.S. Navy and Air Force to produce a standard medium-range precision guided weapon for attacking defended targets from outside the range of standard anti-aircraft defenses.

It is a 1,000-pound air-to-surface missile that can attack fixed and relocatable soft targets like parked aircraft, trucks, armored personnel carriers, and surface-to-air missile sites; mobile targets like battle tanks, self-propelled artillery, wheeled or tracked armored personnel carriers, and light to heavy support vehicles; and industrial facilities, logistical systems, and hardened tactical targets.

The combat aircraft able to carry the JSOW are the Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18C/D Hornet fighter-bombers and F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter bombers; the Air Force F-16 Block 40/50, F-15E, and F-35A fighter bombers; and the Air Force B-1B, B-2A, and B-52H heavy bombers.

http://www.militaryaerospace.com/articles/2017/05/jsow-data-linked-extended-range.html

Well, that's a massive bump in range.

 

[Penguin]

There are a quite lot of different systems currently being modified in order to improve their usefullness against maritime targets. Makes you wonder.