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WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE (BNS): Raytheon and Boeing have successfully completed the test-firing of first of three government-sponsored firings of the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile.

JAGM laser guidance system has hit the 8-by-8-foot target board from a distance of 16 kilometers (10 miles).

The tri-mode seeker, which leverages the same technology used on the Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II, enables the weapon to attack a variety of fixed and moving targets in all weather conditions.

"When Raytheon and Boeing won the JAGM contract on Sept. 11, 2008, we committed to demonstrate our affordable and innovative missile design in these prototype tests," Bob Francois, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems, said.

"This latest test demonstrates Raytheon's fully integrated tri-mode seeker is an extremely reliable and mature approach,” he added.

Raytheon-Boeing team has successfully test-fired the weapon third time in a row. In April 2010, the team has conducted two successful company-funded tests of the weapon.

During the most recent test, all three guidance systems operated simultaneously and provided telemetry data that enabled engineers to conduct further analysis of the weapon.

"This test demonstrates that the combination of Raytheon's guidance section with Boeing's rocket motor, airframe and warhead gives the war-fighter a proven, affordable, reliable and accurate solution," said Carl Avila, director of Boeing Advanced Weapons and Missile Systems.

JAGM is designed to replace three legacy systems that offer the war-fighter improved lethality, range, operational flexibility, supportability and cost savings compared with older weapons like the Hellfire missile.