AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon
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AGM-154A Joint Standoff Weapon [JSOW]
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Briefly
The Joint Standoff Weapon ("JSOW") is a joint venture of the United States Navy and Air Force to deploy a standardized medium range precision guided weapon, especially for engagement of defended targets at ranges outside that of standard anti-aircraft defenses, thereby increasing aircraft surviability and minimizing friendly losses. The JSOW comes in three variants, A, B, and C, designed for use against area targets, light-to-medium armoured targets, and point targets, respectively.
General Characteristics
- Primary Function: Air-to-surface Standoff from Point Defense (SOPD) weapon *for use against a variety of targets.
- Contractor: Raytheon Co.
- Guidance: GPS/INS (Global Position/Inertial), Terminal IR Seeker (AGM-154C *unique)
- Length: 160 inches (4.1 m)
- Diameter: box shaped 13 inches (330 mm) on a side
- Weight: From 1,065 pounds (483 kg) to 1,500 pounds (681 kg)
- Wingspan: 106 inches (2.69 m)
- Aircraft Compatibility:
- Range:
- Low altitude launch - 15 nautical miles (28 km)
- High altitude launch - 65 nautical miles (120 km)
- Warhead(s):
- BLU-97 - Combined effects bomblets
- BLU-108 - Sensor fused weapon
- Broach multi-stage warhead
- Unit Cost:
- AUPP AGM-154A, $148,000
- AGM-154C, $198,000, based on PB04, BY$(1990)
- Date Deployed: January 1999
(Data in the previous section is from the USN Fact File)
Development Information
The AGM-154A Joint Standoff Weapon or JSOW is currently under development by Raytheon (a.k.a Texas Instruments) for the Air Force and the Navy. The AGM-154A is intended to provide a low cost, highly lethal glide weapon with a standoff capability. JSOW family of kinematically efficient, air-to-surface glide weapons, in the 1,000 lb (450 kg) class, provides standoff capabilities from 15 nautical miles (28 km) low altitude launch to 40 nautical miles (74 km) high altitude launch. The JSOW will be used against a variety of land and sea targets and will operate from ranges outside enemy point defenses. The JSOW is a launch and leave weapon that employs a tightly coupled Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS), and is capable of day/night and adverse weather operations. The JSOW uses inertial and global positioning system for midcourse navigation and imaging infra-red and datalink for terminal homing.
The JSOW is just over 160 inches (4.1 m) in length and weighs between 1000 and 1500 pounds (483 and 681 kg). Extra flexibility has been engineered into the AGM-154A by its modular design, which allows several different submunitions, unitary warheads, or non-lethal payloads to be carried. The JSOW will be delivered in three variants, each of which uses a common air vehicle, or truck, while substituting various payloads.
AGM-154A (Baseline JSOW)
The warhead of the AGM-154A consists of 145 BLU-97/B submunitions. Each bomblet is designed for multi-target in one payload. The bomblets have a shaped charge for armor defeating capability, a fragmenting case for material destruction, and a zirconium ring for incendiary effects.
AGM-154B (Anti-Armor)
The warhead for the AGM-154B is the BLU-108/B from the Air Force's Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) program. The JSOW will carry six BLU-108/B submunitions. Each submunition releases four projectiles (total of 24 per weapons) that use infrared sensors to detect targets. Upon detection, the projectile detonates, creating an explosively formed, shaped charge capable of penetrating reinforced armor targets.
AGM-154C (Unitary Variant)
The AGM-154C will use a combination of an Imaging Infrared (IIR) terminal seeker and a two-way data link to achieve point target accuracy through aimpoint refinement and man-in-the-loop guidance. The AGM-154C will carry the BLU-111/B variant of the MK-82, 500 pound (227 kg) general purpose bomb, equipped with the FMU-152 Joint Programmable Fuze (JPF) and is designed to attack point targets.
Inital deployment testing occurred aboard the USS Nimitz and later aboard the USS Eisenhower. The first combat employment of the JSOW occurred over southern Iraq on January 25 1999. Full rate production was then begun on December 29 1999. In June 2000 Raytheon was contracted to develop an enhanced electronics package for the JSOW to prevent electronic spoofing of GPS signals.
The JSOW contains a modular control and deployment interface that allows future enhancement and additional configurations. It is likely that additional variants will emerge, Raytheon has placed a tremendous investment in the JSOW program and will certainly try to extend the Department of Defense contracts for as long as possible with system upgrades and repackagings for new missions and targets.
Sources
United States Navy Fact File: http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/factfile/
FAS Military Analysis Network: http://www.fas.org/
Raytheon: http://www.raytheon.com/products/jsow/ref_docs/jsow.pdf