The US Navy completed the first captive carriage test of the AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1 on an F/A-18F Super Hornet NAS China Lake on March 4.
The JSOW C-1 combines the proven GPS guided JSOW glide weapon with a new datalink allowing updated targeting information to be relayed to the weapon in flight to attack moving targets such as ships. In the captive test the weapon successfully entered the Link 16 network.
The weapon’s first free flight is expected to be carried out later this year, with service entry on USN and RAAF Super Hornets expected in the 2012/13 timeframe.
