Raytheon has announced it successfully conducted the first free-flight of a Joint Stand-Off Weapon – Extended Range (JSOW-ER) on October 1.
The JSOW-ER is a JSOW glide weapon fitted with a Hamilton Sundstrand TJ150 turbojet within the original unpowered weapon’s mould line to increase the range from just over 100km to more than 400km, giving aircraft such as the Hornet and Super Hornet a true stand-off precision attack capability. While the JSOW-ER is a currently a mostly company funded development program, the US Navy has shown considerable interest and provided some development funding.
The RAAF has ordered the current non-powered AGM-154 JSOW C-1 to equip its new F/A-18F Super Hornets which enter service from March next year.
