AGM-154 JSOW

Joint Standoff Weapon

.....Description: A new family of Stand-off Outside Point Defense (SOPD) weapons was introduced to the Fleet beginning in FY 1998 with the Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW). JSOW is a key program that will replace five types of the older air-to-ground weapons currently in the naval inventory. It is a joint Navy-Air Force weapon development program, with the Navy as the lead service. It will provide a family of precision-guided weapons that will allow naval aircraft to attack targets at increased stand-off distances, greatly increasing aircraft survivability. JSOW will be usable in adverse weather conditions, and, like the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), will give aircrews the ability to attack multiple targets in a single sortie. The JSOW family uses a common weapon body for all variants. The AGM-154A variant carries BLU-97 combined-effect bomblets for use against area targets. To provide anti-armor capability, a follow-on version will carry the BLU-108 payload derived from the Sensor Fused Weapon (SFW). A third variant is being developed for a unitary warhead to provide blast-fragmentation capability.

Program Status: The test program for the AGM-154A completed in June 1997 and Carrier Air Wing 9 deployed with five experimental JSOWs in fall 1997. AGM-154A Initial Operational Capability occurred in FY 1998. AGM-154B and AGM-154C variants are expected to reach IOC in FY 2002 and FY 2003, respectively.

Developer/Manufacturer: Raytheon, Lewisville , Texas.