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	Director, Operational Test & Evaluation
FY97 Annual Report

JOINT STANDOFF WEAPON (JSOW)

	Navy-led ACAT 1D Program 23,800 weapons in 3 variants 154A: 8,000 Navy; 3,000 USAF 154B: 1,200 Navy; 3,000 USAF 154C; 7,800 Navy Total program cost (TY$) $9634.6M Full-rate production 1QFY99 Prime Contractor Texas Instruments

SYSTEM DESCRIPTION & CONTRIBUTION TO JOINT VISION 2010

The Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is a family of kinematically efficient, air-to-surface glide weapons, in the 1000-lb class, that provide standoff capabilities from both high and low altitudes. The JSOW will be used against land and sea targets, and will operate from ranges outside enemy point defenses, providing the warfighter with standoff precision engagement capability. A launch and leave weapon, JSOW employs a tightly coupled Global Positioning System (GPS) / Inertial Navigation System (INS), and is capable of day/night and adverse weather operations. The weapon will be both land and carrier based.

Weapon planning will be accomplished using the Navy's Tactical Automated Mission Planning System (TAMPS) and the Air Force Mission Support System (AFMSS). The JSOW will be employed on the following aircraft: F/A-18A/B, C/D, and E/F; AV-8B; F-14A/B and /D; F-16C/D; F-15E; F-117; B-1B; and B-52. The weapon comes in three operational variants.

1. AGM-154A (Baseline JSOW): The warhead of the AGM-154A consists of 145 BLU-97/B submunitions. Each bomblet is designed for multi-target in one payload. The bomblets have a shaped charge for armor defeat capability, a fragmenting case for material destruction, and a zirconium ring for incendiary effects.
2. AGM-154B: The warhead for the AGM-154B is the BLU-108/B from the Air Force's Sensor Fuzed Weapon (SFW) program. The JSOW will carry six BLU-108/B submunitions. Each submunition releases four projectiles or skeet (total of 24 per weapon) that use a dual sensor to detect targets. Upon target detection, the skeet detonate, creating an explosively-formed shaped penetrator slug capable of penetrating reinforced armor targets.
3. AGM-154C (Unitary Variant): The AGM-154C will use a combination of an Imaging Infrared (IIR) terminal seeker and a two-way data link to achieve point target accuracy through aimpoint refinement and man-in-the-loop (MITL) guidance. The AGM-154C will carry the BLU-111/B variant of the MK-82 500 pound general purpose bomb, equipped with the FMU-152 Joint Programmable Fuze (JPF) and is designed to attack point targets.

The JSOW program was reviewed by the Defense Acquisition Board (DAB) in June 1989, and was granted Milestone I approval to enter the Demonstration and Validation phase for the JSOW Baseline (AGM-154A). In April 1992, the JSOW Baseline program completed DAB Milestone II and entered Engineering and Manufacturing Development. Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) for the AGM-154A (Baseline variant) was granted 2QFY97. LRIP for the other two variants are scheduled for FY99 and FY01, respectively.

JSOW critical operational issues address weapon accuracy, probability of kill, weapon and aircraft survivability, system reliability, maintainability, and operational availability. Operational testing to date has followed the approved TEMP strategy and has been focused on two elements: (1) combined Development and Operational Testing of ten Baseline weapons, with five dedicated live fire tests, to support the LRIP decision; and (2) dedicated Operational Testing, OPEVAL of fourteen Baseline weapons (including four additional live fire events) to support the Milestone III.

The JSOW Baseline LFT&E strategy included five dedicated live weapon drops. In each test event, JSOW carrying live submunitions were delivered at a specified speed and altitude at a range of tens of miles from a static target array. The target array consisted of five representative real world threat targets parked in an area of San Clemente Island, California. The targets consisted of an unrevetted MiG-23 aircraft, two ZSU-23-4 antiaircraft gun platforms, two Russian trucks, and a surrogate of a surface-to-air missile system. Additional lethality data were obtained from four live missile launches in OPEVAL (OT-IIB) in June 1997.

Combined operational testing to date has resulted in 21 mission successes in 24 trials. Data analysis is ongoing, and a final determination of operational effectiveness and operational suitability of the Baseline weapon will not be complete until after the two planned Air Force launches currently planned for 3QFY98. Preliminary analysis indicates that Baseline JSOW meets accuracy and lethality requirements against the Baseline JSOW (AGM-154A) target set.

Targeting problems based on Target Location Errors (TLE) remain a concern and can affect JSOW employment. It is uncertain whether current or planned target location methods can provide GPS-guided weapons with the accuracy needed to be effectively employed. This issue is one of target location validity and not one of JSOW performance.

Air Force testing of the baseline JSOW has been hindered by less than desired progress in the area of F-16 / JSOW integration. These include delays in development and test of F-16 Smart Rack (aircraft "bomb" rack), the Common Munitions BIT/Reprogramming Equipment (CMBRE), AFMSS, and the F-16 Operational Flight Profile (OFP) software. The Air Force's portion of Baseline JSOW testing (IOT&E) will be performed with two launches in the 2Q-3QFY98 timeframe. This delay will not preclude Navy's determination of operational effectiveness and operational suitability. OPEVAL results have been analyzed and a BLRIP report is expected to be submitted after Air Force testing is complete.