Raytheon and the U.S. Navy completed the final free flight test for the Joint Standoff Weapon C-1 (JSOW C-1) during its integrated testing phase and the weapon is now slated to start operational testing (OT) this spring, according to a Raytheon news release.
The JSOW C-1 demonstrated its effectiveness against moving maritime targets during the development test, considered a crucial capability against current and future surface warfare threats. If OT is completed successfully and on time, the weapon is slated for delivery to the fleet in 2016.
“JSOW C-1 will be the U.S. Navy’s first air-launched, net enabled weapon to provide warfighters with the vital capability to engage both stationary land-based and maneuvering sea-based targets,” said Celeste Mohr, Raytheon’s JSOW program director. “The affordable JSOW is critical to countering today’s advanced, emerging threats.”
“As we pivot to the Pacific, our capability to employ networked precision strike across our kill chains and engage in offensive anti-surface warfare is key to maintaining our strategic dominance in that theater,” said Capt. Jaime Engdahl, the Navy’s Precision Strike Weapons (PMA-201) program manager at Patuxent River in the release. “I am proud of our Navy and Raytheon team’s commitment to providing these advanced capabilities to the warfighter.”
During the test, the aircrew of two different F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft executed a pre-launch handoff, followed by the weapon’s release 35 nautical miles from the target. After launch the two Super Hornets again transferred control of the weapon, then sent a post-launch retargeting command rerouting the JSOW C-1 to a higher priority target.
A JSOW strikes a moving ship target during testing. Raytheon image
The JSOW C-1 provided real time weapon in-flight track and bomb hit indication status messages back to the controlling aircraft via Link-16 network while in route to the target. Multiple and seamless communication exchanges between the aircraft and the weapon ended with a successful engagement of the small maneuvering ship target, according to the release.
“JSOW C-1 will be the U.S. Navy’s first air-launched, net enabled weapon to provide warfighters with the vital capability to engage both stationary land-based and maneuvering sea-based targets,” said Celeste Mohr, Raytheon’s JSOW program director. “The affordable JSOW is critical to countering today’s advanced, emerging threats.”
More than 5,000 weapons in the JSOW family have been produced since 1997, with more than 400 employed in combat so far. The weapon employs an integrated GPS-inertial navigation system and is the only standoff weapon currently in production to fit within the weapons bays of the F-35A and C. JSOW C-1 is designed to provide the new capabilities against moving maritime and high value targets at launch ranges of up to 70 nautical miles from both fourth and fifth generation fighters. F-35A/C integration is currently funded for JSOW C-1, with external integration on the F-35B scheduled in Block 4.