The unitary warhead variant of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW), produced for the U.S. Navy and Air Force by Raytheon Company, successfully completed its first free-flight test December 4, at the Naval Air Systems Command, China Lake weapons test range. The Test Team Lead, Point Mugu, and Range Control Center Team, China Lake were instrumental in the success of this flight.

The AGM-154C variant of JSOW was launched from an F/A-18C/D at 0.8 Mach and 20,000 feet. With the aid of GPS satellites, the weapon flew autonomously for approximately 20 nautical miles, located the target using imaging infrared seeker, and impacted the target at the desired aimpoint.

The JSOW-C incorporates an uncooled, long-wave infrared seeker with Autonomous Target Acquisition (ATA) algorithms, thus providing the Navy with a launch-and-leave weapon with standoff precision strike capability. The JSOW-C also will be the first U.S. weapon to incorporate the Broach penetration multiple warhead, developed by the United Kingdom's BAE. The all-up-round Broach configured testing will be conducted later in 2002.

"This flight is extremely important to the Navy," said the Navy's JSOW program manager. "The JSOW family of weapons provides a cost effective alternative to other weapons and provides aircraft survivability with Standoff Outside Point Defense capability. The JSOW Unitary variant is expected to become the warfighter's weapon of choice when standoff blast/fragmentation or penetration capability is required."

With the introduction of the Broach warhead and ATA on the proven JSOW delivery vehicle, a totally new capability will soon be available to the U.S. Navy strike forces.

The Joint Standoff Weapon is a low-cost family of glide weapons using a common delivery vehicle for three different payloads. The JSOW-A is in production and delivers the BLU-97 Combined Effects Bomblets for area targets. It has been used successfully in Iraq and Kosovo. The JSOW-B variant carries the BLU-108 Sensor Fused Weapon bomblets for an anti-armor capability and is in low rate production. The JSOW-A and B versions are being produced for the U.S. Navy and Air Force for use on the F/A-18, F-16, F-15, B-1, B-2 and B-52 aircraft. The latest version, the JSOW-C, is in development and will begin production in 2003 for the U.S. Navy.

The JSOW program is managed by the Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO (W)), a member of the Naval Air Systems Command Team. To learn more about PEO (W), log on to the website at www.strikenet.js.mil.