Raytheon Missiles and Defense has secured a contract to produce 50 AGM-154 Block III C Joint Standoff Weapons (JSOWs) for Taiwan.
The $68.4 million Foreign Military Sales (FMS) contract will see the weapons delivered by March 2028, says a US government contract announcement.
According to the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), which issued the contract, the AGM-154C includes a 226kg (500lb) warhead “effective against fixed-point targets such as industrial facilities, logistical systems, and hardened tactical targets”.
A Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation System guides the weapon to targets up to 54nm (100km) away, and the system also has an infrared seeker for the final phase of flight.
Among aircraft that can deploy the weapon is the Lockheed Martin F-16, the main type in Taiwan’s air force.
In July 2017 the US government cleared an FMS sale for Taiwan including 56 JSOWs as well as related support and spares, valuing the overall package at $186 million.
Five years later, in June 2022, Raytheon received a contract from NAVAIR to implement “updates to the technical data package and software” related to AGM-154C (Block III) sales to three countries: Canada, Bahrain, and Taiwan.
While the 2022 contract did not detail the nature of the technical updates, NAVAIR says that the latest variant of JSOW, the AGM-154C-1, features a Link-16 datalink and can be used against “moving maritime targets”. This weapon is in service with the US Navy.
