216 New Weapons And Then Some

The US Navy awarded Raytheon Company a $48 million modification to a previously awarded contract for Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW-A).

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, AZ, will provide 216 JSOW AGM-154A variant weapons, containers, technical and financial data, and special tooling/special test equipment.

Work is expected to be completed in July 2007.

The JSOW is a family of low cost, highly survivable air-to-ground glide weapons that employ an integrated Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation system that guides the weapon to the target. More than 400 JSOW-As have been used in combat operations to date.

The JSOW family uses a common and modular weapon body capable of carrying a variety of payloads and handling multiple munitions. Its long standoff range demonstrated at 63 nautical miles allows delivery from well outside the lethal range of most enemy air defenses. The JSOW-A variant dispenses BLU-97 combined-effect bomblets for use against soft and area targets. It is produced for use on the F/A-18, F-16, F-15E, F-22, B-1, B-2 and B-52 aircraft.

A new variant that was delivered to the Navy in November, JSOW-C, is the first US weapon to incorporate the two-stage blast fragmentation/penetration warhead. JSOW-C, which offers increased capabilities against concealed and deceptive targets, has a unique ability for a glide weapon to attack a hardened target in a near-horizontal mode.

The Navy/Raytheon team is also developing a Block II configuration of the JSOW weapon system that provides significant cost reductions to all JSOW versions. The first Block II configuration weapons will be delivered in 2007. Additionally, other JSOW improvements are under way to add anti-ship capability, reduce unexploded ordnance, hit moving targets, provide bomb hit indication, provide network capability and further reduce costs.

FMI: www.raytheon.com