NAVAL AIR SYSTEMS COMMAND, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. -- The Navy took another step toward initial operating capability of the latest variant of the Joint Standoff Weapon, when it accepted 11 production rounds of the JSOW-C1 on Oct. 15.

“Our team is committed to deliver what we’ve promised to the warfighter,” said Capt. Carl Chebi, Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201) program manager. “The outstanding efforts of the joint NAVAIR and industry team make it possible to provide this game-changing capability.”

The program team convened a configuration change board to assess readiness for production of the weapon. The JSOW-C1, assembled at McAlester Army Ammunition Plant in McAlester, Okla., will be sent to the fleet upon completion of operational testing in early 2013.

The Raytheon-built JSOW is an all-weather, day or night, network-enabled weapon that employs a Global Positioning System/inertial navigation system and uses an infrared seeker for terminal guidance enabling precision air strike launches from beyond enemy air defenses.

The C-1 variant of the combat-proven JSOW provides upgraded capability to strike moving maritime targets in addition to fixed and re-locatable land targets. Using a Link-16 network – a secure military tactical data exchange – to receive network-enabled messages, it searches for potential hostiles and enables off-board targeting sources to exchange secure data in near-real time.

The interoperability of the JSOW-C1 was recently tested during a three-day Joint Surface Warfare Joint Capability Technology Demonstration, where the weapon was used in conjunction with a Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System, two F/A-18 Hornets and two instrumented target ships to demonstrate the capability of network-enabled weapons.

Currently, there are four variants of the JSOW: JSOW-A, JSOW-A1, JSOW-C, and the JSOW-C1. About 3,500 JSOWs have been delivered to the fleet since 1998 with more than 400 used in combat. The JSOW C-1 will be integrated on Navy F/A-18 E/F Super Hornets and on the F-35 Lightning II.

PMA-201 is responsible for the research, development and acquisition of the fleet’s air-to-ground precision guided weapons, general purpose bombs and aircraft armament-related equipment.