The AGM-154 JSOW is a stand-off smart weapon, which is dropped from a combat aircraft from a long way off distance, beyond the reach of land air defense radars. Although it looks like a cruise missile, it is in fact a precision glide bomb, which was developed and produced by the American firm Raytheon. It was introduced into operational service in 1999 and it was exported to several NATO countries. It was used in anger (combat action) for the first time in 2002, during the US-led invasion of Afghanistan. Then, in 2003, it would be employed again during the American and British invasion of Iraq. It is important to point out that this weapon has no installed power plant, such as a jet turbine, electric motor, or rocket; it just glides and heads towards its target pushed by inertia (the aircraft speed) and the mass acceleration by gravity.
Fitted with switch wings, the AGM-154 JSOW can glide for about 190 km to strike its target when dropped from high altitudes and it is guided by GPS and terminal infrared homing seeker. This is the real maximum effective range it can glide, not the 130 km published on some website. The JSOW (Joint Stand-Off Weapon) is a family of low-cost air-to-ground weapon which utilizes a global positioning system and inertial navigation system to reach its target. It is modular in design, with different versions that can integrate unitary HE bomb, hardened bunker penetrator bomb, and lethal sub-munitions with a guidance computer nose, switch wings and fins. Its launching platforms are the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon, and the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter aircraft.
The AGM-154C variant is fitted with an imaging infrared seeker for last-stage high precision, plus a Broach multi-stage warhead that has both blast-fragmentation and hard target penetration capability. JSOW-C is in full rate production, and achieved initial operation capability in February 2005 with the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps. JSOW Block II used this framework to reduce the weapon’s unit cost by 25%-33%, improve performance, and fund follow-on development of the AGM-154-C1. Key Block II decisions included redesigning the “airframe” to a major single piece instead of multiple parts, reducing the number of parts generally, using less expensive components, and employing advanced technologies.
Specifications
Type: smart glide bomb
Total Weight: 500 kg (1,096 lb)
Warhead: Mark-82 bomb (unitary warhead); BLU-108 sub-munitions.
Length: 4.1 m (160 inches)
Diameter: 0.33 m (13 inches)
Wing Span: 2.7 m (106 inches)
Maximum Range: 190 km (when dropped from high altitude)
Guidance System: GPS; terminal infrared homing seeker.
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| Above, the AGM-154 JSOW glide bomb with its wings folded up. |
The AGM-154 JSOW dropped from a F/A-18 Super Hornet in action (video)
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