GRAHAM WARWICK /WASHINGTON DC

A successful test of the BAE Systems Broach multi-stage warhead for the Raytheon AGM-154C Joint Stand-Off Weapon (JSOW-C) has paved the way for a critical design review next month. The dynamic sled test at the UK's Pendine range demonstrated the required hard-target penetration, officials say.

The JSOW-C is the first US weapon to incorporate the Broach warhead, which uses a penetrating shaped charge to clear the way for a follow-through blast/fragmentation bomb. US testing of the warhead is to begin in September, with three dynamic sled tests planned before a low-rate initial production decision around year-end, says US Navy programme manager Capt Bob Wirt.

The AGM-154C "truck", with an imaging infrared terminal seeker providing autonomous target acquisition, is being tested separately, without the warhead. Two free flights have been conducted against fixed targets, with a third planned by early April. Last month's test against a horizontal target resulted in a miss distance of just 530mm (21in). The seeker uses overhead target imagery and the weapon "hit within the pixel" selected as the aimpoint, Wirt says.

The seeker is ahead in development because of the late switch from a conventional blast/fragmentation warhead to the penetrating Broach to give JSOW-C a greater capability against hard targets. The warhead switch expanded the target set for the glide weapon, but extended the programme by 11 months, says Wirt. Testing of the complete weapon is set for 2002, with 16 flights planned, and delivery of 3,000 units to the US Navy is to begin in February 2004.

Wirt says seeker and warhead tests indicate the JSOW-C will be effective against a wider range of fixed targets than originally envisaged. One Broach-equipped weapon will be able to destroy a reinforced concrete bridge pier that would have required multiple conventional-warhead JSOWs, he says. The Pendine test simulated a bridge pier, the precursor warhead perforating the prescribed thickness of reinforced concrete.

Source: Flight International