Military

U.S. NAVY Awards LRIP Contract To BAE SYSTEMS For JSOW Unitary Broach Program

16 Jul 2003

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Navy has awarded a $4.2 million low rate initial production (LRIP) contract to BAE Systems to provide 42 BROACH Lethal Packages (and associated support and test equipment) for the Navys Joint Standoff Weapon Unitary variant (JSOW-C). Initial delivery of the planned 3,000 unit production program will begin in early 2004.

Incorporating multi-stage warhead technology, the BROACH system consists of a penetrating shaped-charge in front of a standard conventional follow-through-bomb. The Lethal Package provides blast and fragmentation effectiveness, as well as hardened target penetration.

The JSOW Unitary variant (AGM-154C) is the first U.S. weapon to integrate the BROACH Lethal Package and is designed to give JSOW enhanced effectiveness against a broader spectrum of targets, said CDR Phil Yates, U.S. Navy JSOW deputy program manager. The transition from development to production is a major milestone toward satisfying Fleet demand for this capability.

BROACH was developed after the 1991 Gulf War, when it became apparent that the practice of having weapons specifically designed for defeating hardened, intermediate, and/or soft ground targets placed stress on the long logistical chain, especially given the evolving nature of that war. A good portion of the development work on BROACH was completed during the U.K. Storm Shadow CASOM (Conventionally Armed Stand Off Missile) program, and the JSOW and CALCM (Conventionally-armed Air Launched Cruise Missile) Foreign Comparative Test programs. The Storm Shadow cruise missile equipped with the BROACH warhead was successfully used during the recent Operation Iraqi Freedom campaign.

Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz., integrates the BROACH Lethal Package into the weapon system and is responsible for the development of Imaging Infrared Seeker hardware and Autonomous Targeting Acquisition (ATA) software, thus providing the Navy with a launch and leave weapon with standoff precision strike capability. The Thales Missile Electronics (TME) contact switch and two TME Multi-Application Fuze Initiation System (MAFIS) fuzes are used to initiate the warhead system.

JSOW is a low cost family of glide-weapons using a common delivery vehicle for three different payloads. The JSOW-A is in production and delivers the BLU-97 Combined Effects Bomblets for area targets. The Fleet in various campaigns has employed the JSOW-A successfully.

JSOW is currently deployed on Navy F/A-18 aircraft and U. S. Air Force F-16, B-52, and B-2 aircraft. The Air Force continues integration efforts on B-1B and F-15E aircraft.