Highlights

Date posted: 07/15/2008*

Raytheon’s Test Launches JSOW-ER to Next Stage

Raytheon Company has completed captive carry testing of the Joint Standoff Weapon Extended Range. The test proved Raytheon will be able to deliver on a recently awarded $4.1 million U.S. Navy contract to conduct a free-flight demonstration of the JSOW-ER in 2009. JSOW-ER will provide the warfighter a weapon with a range of 300 nautical miles (345 statute miles) for approximately $350,000 in 2007 dollars.

During the Raytheon-funded test, a JSOW-ER was loaded onto an A-4 Skyhawk fighter aircraft and the weapon’s engine was ignited at an altitude of 25,000 feet. The aircraft then flew the same mission profiles the missile might experience during a combat mission to . The test subjected the weapon to many of the same stressors -- wind, vibration and extreme temperatures -- the JSOW-ER would face during an operational mission.

The JSOW-ER is a powered variant of the combat-proven glide JSOW. It takes the proven GPS/inertial navigation system reliability of earlier JSOW models and combines it with the network-enabled, maritime-interdiction capabilities currently under development for the JSOW C-1. By adding a 150-pound thrust class engine without violating JSOW’s outer mold lines or mass properties, the JSOW-ER gains a range of approximately 300 nautical miles. As a result, JSOW-ER integration cost is minimal on any aircraft on which glide JSOW is currently integrated.

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