Raytheon [RTN] retargeted its Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 variant to strike a large, moving maritime target during Navy integrated testing in July, keeping the program on track for initial operational capability (IOC) at the end of 2013, the company said in a statement.
The July 23 test presented two maneuvering ships as potential targets, one large and one small. Before weapon release, a Boeing [BA] F/A-18E/F Super Hornet fighter jet targeted the smaller ship before handing weapon control over to a second Super Hornet also targeting the smaller ship.
The second Super Hornet then guided the JSOW C-1 toward the smaller maneuvering ship target located 90 kilometers from the launch point. Then, the second Super Hornet retargeted the JSOW C-1 in flight to the larger maneuvering ship target.
The JSOW C-1, which has a range of approximately 100 km, then provided in-flight track and bomb hit indication status messages back to the controlling Super Hornet while successfully engaging the larger target ship. The test validated JSOW C-1’s ability to be controlled, updated and retargeted as needed to eliminate its intended target.
Raytheon spokesman John Patterson said Wednesday in an email JSOW C-1 integrated testing has three more tests scheduled: A stationary land target test “within the next two weeks,” a stationary land target test in September and a moving maritime target test in October. Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) spokeswoman Jamie Cosgrove confirmed Wednesday in an email that the service is still aiming for JSOW C-1 IOC by the “end of 2013.”
JSOW is a family of air-to-ground weapons that employs an integrated Global Positioning System- (GPS) inertial navigation system and terminal imaging infrared seeker, according to a Raytheon statement. JSOW C-1 adds the two-way Strike Common Weapon Data Link, which enables moving maritime target capability. The legacy JSOW C variant is only capable of attacking stationary ground targets, Raytheon JSOW C-1 Program Manager Mike Vela told Defense Daily in a Wednesday phone interview.
Vela said the JSOW C-1 retargeting is enabled by a Link 16 data link built by Rockwell Collins [COL] using Network Enabled Weapons software, which allows the exchange of messages regarding targeting, command and control, identification and weapon-fly out information, according to an Air Force statement.
Vela said the ability to retarget a weapon is important because it gives warfighters flexibility.
“As the pilots are egressing towards the target area, they may get told that’s no longer our primary target while the JSOW is still on the wing or while JSOW is in the air,” Vela said. “So this demonstrated that very important capability in the case where we get an order to retarget the weapon in the air for a higher priority target.”
Raytheon JSOW Business Development Manager Bradley Watters said Wednesday in a phone interview JSOW C-1 has a two-stage follow-through bomb developed and produced by BAE Systems that provides an automating charge as well as a another follow-through bomb that provides five feet of penetration on reinforced concrete. Watters also said this payload is also on the legacy JSOW C variant.
Raytheon JSOW Program Director Celeste Mohr said the JSOW C-1 is currently carried on the F/A-18E/F and can be carried on the F/A-18C/D, but is only for stationary land target capability on the C/D.
Raytheon is using company funds to develop an engine-powered version of the JSOW which has the potential to hit targets from distances greater than 250 km. Mohr said this is known as JSOW ER (extended range). Mohr said the engine, which is also used in its Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD), is a TJ-150 Expendable Propulsion engine developed by Hamilton Sustrand, a division of United Technologies Corp. [UTX]
Mohr also said Raytheon is adding a fuel tank for JSOW ER and looking at different options for payloads. He added they did a JSOW ER demo in 2009 and that the weapon is still in the developmental stages.