BAE to build warheads for standoff weapons

Sea Power, Sep 2003

BAE Systems has been awarded a $4.2 million Naval Air Systems Command contract to build the BROACH penetrating warhead for the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW).

BAE will build 42 BROACH warheads-of 3,000 planned-for installation beginning in 2004 on the AGM-142C version of the JSOW, a glide bomb built by Raytheon Missile Systems and deployed on the Navy and Marine Corps F/A-18 strike fighters.

"The JSOW unitary variant (AGM-142C) is the first U.S. weapon to integrate the BROACH Lethal Package and is designed to give JSOW enhanced effectiveness against a broader spectrum of targets," said Cdr. Phil Yates, JSOW deputy program manager.

The BROACH warhead was developed after the 1991 Gulf War to meet the need for an aerial weapon capable of defeating hardened targets as well as soft targets. The BROACH warhead was deployed by the Royal Air Force on the Storm Shadow missile during Operation Iraqi Freedom.