Article Posted on : - Feb 01, 2010

The JAGM system mounted on an attack helicopter. A Raytheon Photo

ARIZONA, US (BNS): The Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) system, being developed to replace three different missiles used by the US Army, Navy and Marine Corps, has undergone a series of captive flight tests.

The JAGM system, jointly designed by Raytheon Company and Boeing to replace the BGM-71 TOW, AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-65 Maverick missiles of the three arms of the US military, is now ready for guided test shots, Raytheon has announced.

“The Raytheon-Boeing JAGM is a mature, capable system. We have proved the technical readiness of this superior warfighting solution,” Bob Francois, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems product line, said.

The JAGM programme aims to develop an air-to-surface missile that will replace the US Army’s AGM-114 Hellfire II missiles, the Navy’s Maverick missiles and the Marine Corp’s BGM-71 TOW missiles.

While the Army’s AH-64 Apache helicopters and MQ-1C Warrior Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are fitted with Hellfire missiles, the Navy fires the Maverick missiles from its Seahawk reconnaissance helicopter. The Marine Corps use the AH-1 SuperCobra attack helicopters as the platform to fire the BGM-71 TOW missiles.

The new JAGM system’s body and multi-purpose warhead have been provided by Boeing. Raytheon has designed its ‘tri-mode’ seeker which enables the weapon to hit a fixed or a moving target in all weather conditions.

The US Army, Navy and Marine Corps are expected to procure around 35,000 JAGM systems.