Posted by Courtney E. Howard
BENGALURU, India, 11 Feb. 2011. Raytheon Company completed a series of free-flight demonstrations of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) AGM-154-C from an F-16IN fighter aircraft. The tests were part of the Indian Air Force's Medium Multi-Role Combat Aircraft (MMRCA) competition.
JSOW is a family of low-cost, air-to-ground weapons that employs an integrated GPS inertial navigation system and terminal infrared seeker that guide the weapon to the target. The system has a maximum range of 80.5 statute miles (130 kilometers) from high altitude and can penetrate more than approximately 5 feet (1.5 meters) of reinforced concrete.
"We conducted the demonstration to show that JSOW-C, which is currently integrated on various F-16 international aircraft, could be easily, affordably and rapidly integrated on the F-16IN," says Phyllis McEnroe, Raytheon's JSOW program director. "JSOW is already integrated on the F/A-18 Super Hornet and has been employed from that platform numerous times, so this test proves that JSOW can now be employed from both U.S. MMRCA offerings."
The MMRCA program is a competition to procure 126 new aircraft for Indian air warriors.
