Raytheon has completed its captive carry tests on the joint stand-off weapon – extended range (JSOW-ER) as part of the missile’s development programme, the company announced yesterday.
The basic JSOW, of which 3,000 have been built, is an unpowered glide weapon. JSOW-ER uses the engine from the miniature air-launched decoy to give it a range of up to 300nm.
JSOW-ER began life as a company-funded programme but received a $4.1 million contract from the US Navy this year to conduct a free-flight demonstration of JSOW-ER in March 2009.
The captive carry tests took place in May and involved the missile being carried on the centreline pylon of an A-4 Skyhawk of Phoenix, Arizona-based Advanced Training Systems International. The JSOW-ER Hamilton Sundstrand turbojet was run for 42 minutes during the test at 25,000ft (7,600m).
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“Everything we saw was what we were expecting to see,” says Phyllis McEnroe, JSOW programme director. “It proves again we’re about ready to go to free flight. We’re working on the software development for the engine at the moment and that’s what we’ll be looking to prove in a ground test in November.”The added weight of the turbojet on board JSOW-ER will be compensated through a weight-reduction programme on the missile.
“We’re doing the trades right now,” says Ron Patton, JSOW lead engineer. A mock-up of the missile is here at the show.
Source: Flight International