AIR-LAUNCHED WEAPONS

Sea Power, Jan 2005

The modernized Hellfire will employ a self-targeting trimode seeker, dual-mode (shaped-charge or blast-frag) warhead and a greater standoff range, and will replace the TOW, Hellfire II and Maverick missiles. Modernized Hellfire is scheduled to reach initial operating capability by fiscal 2008.

MGM-71 TOW

The Tube-launched, Optically-tracked, Wire-command-link (TOW) missile is a short-range wire-guided antitank missile deployed on Marine Corps AH-IW SuperCobra helicopter gunships. (see Marine Corps Weapons section for a description of the TOW.)

AGM-1 1 9B PENGUIN

BRIEFING: The AGM-119B Penguin - a short-to-mediumrange rolling-airframe inertially guided missile with passive infrared homing - has been operational since 1983. The helicopter-launched antiship missile - manufactured in Norway - is carried by U.S. Navy SH-60B LAMPS Mk III helicopters.

AGM-122 SIDEARM

The AGM-122 Sidearm is a derivative of the AIM-9 Sidewinder adapted for use by the Marine Corps' AH-IW SuperCobra helicopter gunship. The missile can be launched from ranges up to nine nautical miles from very low altitudes and target airdefense sites using radar homing and electro-optical sensors.

GUIDED BOMBS

AGM-154 JOINT STANDOFF WEAPON (JSOW)

BRIEFING: The AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is a 1,000-pound air-to-surface delivery vehicle that carries several different lethal packages. The weapon's standoff range of 12 to 65 nautical miles allows JSOW to remain outside the threat envelopes of enemy point defenses while effectively engaging and destroying targets. JSOW is in operational status on the F/A-18C/D/E/F, F-16, B-52 and B-2 aircraft. JSOW certification is in progress for the F-15E and B-IB. The JSOW family currently consists of three different lethal package variants.

The AGM-154A or "Baseline" configuration carries 145 BLU-97 submunitions and is used to attack fixed and relocatable soft targets such as parked and revetted aircraft, trucks, armored personnel carriers and surface-to-air missile sites. The AGM-154A was employed by Navy F/A-18s against targets in Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom and in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom. More than 400 AGM-154As have been used in combat.

The AGM-154B has six BLU-108B/B canisters. Each dispenses four antitank submunitions and provides effectiveness against mobile area targets such as battle tanks, self-propelled artillery, wheeled or tracked armored personnel carriers and light to heavy support vehicles. Development of JSOW-B is complete and production has been deferred.

The AGM-154C incorporates a 500-pound class blast/fragmentation/penetrator warhead effective against fixed-point targets such as industrial facilities, logistical systems and hardened tactical targets. The AIM-154C incorporates an uncooled, longwave imaging infrared seeker with autonomous target acquisition algorithms for precise targeting. Low-rate initial production of the AGM-154C was approved in July 2003. The AGM-154C completed operational evaluation in August 2004. Initial operational capability is expected in early 2005.