Supersonic Naval Ordnance Research Track (SNORT) – A key facility for testing future supersonic weaponry, SNORT comprises a 4-mile-long, dual-rail, precision-alignment track to test rockets, guided missiles, model and full-scale aircraft, and components under free-flight conditions at subsonic through supersonic velocities. A very slow-speed, reusable vehicle also is being developed to test future Navy unmanned aerial systems. Test vehicles on SNORT’s supersonic sled track, the second longest and fastest in the world, can reach speeds up to 6,000 feet per second. Available tests include long-duration runs, controlled deceleration, aircrew safety, terminal ballistics, rain erosion, vehicles and barriers, aeroballistics, damage and destruction, and soft recovery.
An Army-led program managed by PEO Missiles and Space, Joint Attack Munitions Systems (JAMS) Project Office, JAGM is a precision-guided munition providing improved air-to-ground missile capability against high-value stationary, moving, and relocatable land and maritime targets.
Weapons & Armaments Technology Lab (WATL) – One of NAVAIR’s newest facilities, WATL provides global support to the Navy, Air Force, and FMS customers using centralized weapons support equipment, test measurement and diagnostic equipment, and general purpose electrical/electronic test equipment. That includes supplying forward-deployed U.S. Central and Africa Command forces with more than 50 deliverable EW payloads, ground stations, and data links. Developed under difficult and compressed timelines by the Information Operations Team, those systems provide crucial in-theater capabilities for tactical operations.
Weapons Systems Center for Integration (WSCI) – A large laboratory complex used to meet current and emerging warfighter and fleet requirements by rapidly developing, integrating, demonstrating, exercising, and delivering innovative system of systems (SoS) products and capabilities. With input from Navy, Marine, Air Force, special operations and coalition warfighters, WSCI’s four secure labs focus on weapons modeling and simulation, supporting network enabled weapons, mission gap product development, prototyping, horizontal integration, and support for government lead system integration (LSI) roles.
Current NAVAIR weapons programs include:
AGM-88E Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) – Now in Full Rate Production after achieving Initial Operational Capability (IOC) in 2012 and deployed operationally on Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 and EA-18G aircraft; and compatible with F-35, and F-16 C/J. An air-to-ground missile used for suppression and/or destruction of enemy air defenses (SEAD/DEAD), it is primarily used against re-locatable integrated air defense targets and targets that utilize shutdown tactics, which AARGM counters through the use of a multi-mode seeker.
Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS II) – Design conversion of an unguided Hydra 2.75-inch rocket with a laser guidance kit, giving it precision-kill capability as an inexpensive way to destroy targets while limiting collateral damage in close combat. Production began in 2011 and successful Initial Operational Test and Evaluation was completed January 2012 on AH-1W and UH-1Y helicopters, with IOC in March 2012. APKWS was deployed aboard both platforms in Operation Enduring Freedom, with a greater than 90 percent probability of hit. In March 2014, APKWS II was successfully integrated onto MH-60S; AH-1Z integration is underway, as is integration with fixed-wing aircraft.
An F/A-18 Hornet assigned to the “Marauders” of Strike Fighter Squadron Eight Two (VFA-82) on patrol. The aircraft is carrying a Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) on its left wing pylon and a laser-guided bomb on its right wing pylon. U.S. Navy photo
Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) – An Army-led program managed by PEO Missiles and Space, Joint Attack Munitions Systems (JAMS) Project Office, JAGM is a precision-guided munition providing improved air-to-ground missile capability against high-value stationary, moving, and relocatable land and maritime targets. It uses a multi-mode seeker for precision point and fire-and-forget targeting day or night in adverse weather, battlefield obscured conditions, and against a variety of countermeasures. Its multi-purpose warhead is lethal against a range of targets, from armored and thin-skinned vehicles and maritime patrol craft to urban structures and field fortifications. Intended for AH-64 and AH-1Z helicopters, JAGM currently is in technology development.
LAU-61G/A Digital Rocket Launcher (DRL) – Developed in response to a Navy urgent operational needs statement, the DRL was introduced to the fleet through a Rapid Deployment Capability project; Early Operational Capability (EOC) on the MH-60S was declared in March 2014 and on the MH-60R in March 2015. The DRL increases MH-60S combat capability by enabling target engagement with 2.75-inch unguided and guided rockets, including the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS). DRL’s digital interface makes it capable of employing a wider variety of rocket configurations, offering significant flexibility to engage different target sets with sequential and selective single fire, selective and all ripple fire, and rocket-inventory tracking, not available in its legacy predecessor.