AGM-154 JSOW

The AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) is a precision-guided glide bomb developed as a joint program between the United States Navy and Air Force. The system was designed to engage defended targets from outside the range of point anti-aircraft defenses to increase aircraft survivability. Following a first flight in April 1991, the weapon underwent operational evaluation beginning in February 1997 and entered service in January 1999.

The JSOW is an unpowered, fire-and-forget weapon that utilizes tightly coupled GPS/INS for navigation. It is capable of operations during the day, at night, and in adverse weather. The airframe features two deployable wings to provide lift during flight. The AGM-154A baseline variant carries 145 BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomb submunitions, which utilize shaped charges, fragmenting cases, and zirconium rings for anti-armor, anti-material, and incendiary effects. The AGM-154A-1 variant replaces these submunitions with a BLU-111 unitary warhead to mitigate unexploded ordnance concerns. The AGM-154B variant was designed for anti-armor roles using BLU-108/B sensor-fuzed submunitions, though development concluded without procurement. The AGM-154C incorporates an imaging infrared terminal seeker for autonomous guidance and carries the BROACH multi-stage warhead. This warhead consists of a WDU-44 shaped augmenting charge and a WDU-45 follow-through bomb for attacking hardened targets. The Block II upgrade introduced a Selective Availability Anti-Spoofing Module to protect GPS signals, while the Block III (JSOW-C1) added capabilities for moving maritime targets and achieved full operational capability in 2017.

The weapon is operated by the United States Navy and Marine Corps, with the United States Air Force having terminated production in 2005. It is also in service with or ordered by Australia, Canada, Finland, Greece, Italy, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Arab Emirates. The JSOW was first used in combat in December 1998 during Operation Desert Fox, launched by an F/A-18C against targets in Iraq. It has since been deployed in Operation Southern Watch, NATO Operation Allied Force, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. While primarily used for the suppression of enemy air defenses and strikes against soft targets like parked aircraft and armored vehicles, it was involved in a February 2001 incident where a software error caused multiple missiles to miss their targets; the issue was subsequently resolved. Over 400 units have been used in combat operations.