By Geoff Fein
The Raytheon [RTN] and Boeing [BA] effort to develop the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) for the Army and Navy had a successful second test flight of its weapon.
The second test held earlier in August demonstrated the missile’s lock-on-before-launch capability using the seeker’s uncooled imaging infrared sensor, Michael Riley, Raytheon’s senior manager business development advanced missiles and unmanned systems, told Defense Daily recently.
The government-run test held at White Sands Missile Range, N.M., required that all three seeker modes had to be active during the test, he said.
Raytheon’s tri-mode seeker has a semi-active laser, uncooled imaging infrared sensor, and millimeter wave.
In the most recent test, the team’s JAGM was in a direct attack mode targeting a T-72 tank, Riley added.
The missile did not have a warhead. Full-up round tests likely won’t occur until a winner of the JAGM competition is picked.
Raytheon and Boeing are competing against a Lockheed Martin [LMT]-led team to develop the joint missile, which will be carried on rotary-wing, fixed- wing and unmanned aerial system platforms, with an expected initial operational capability in 2016. The missile is expected to replace Hellfire II, Longbow Hellfire and Maverick missiles (Defense Daily, July 27). The Army and Navy are seeking a combined total of 33,000 JAGMs.
Raytheon and Boeing are also teaming with ATK [ATK] for the motor and General Dynamics [GD] ordnance and Tactical Systems which is making the JAGM warhead, Riley said.
Lockheed Martin’s JAGM effort is using a cooled seeker. The Raytheon-Boeing effort is going with an uncooled seeker. Riley noted.
The team is confident in their technology, especially given Raytheon’s recent contract award for the Small Diameter Bomb II (SDB II), which also relies on an uncooled seeker. In that competition, Raytheon beat out a competing Boeing-Lockheed Martin bid (Defense Daily, August 11).
Riley said the company has proven an uncooled seeker can work.
For their JAGM bid, Riley said the team didn’t need an expensive seeker along with the components a cooled version requires.
“You don’t need cryogenic coolers,” Stephen Sherrick, manager Boeing business development integrated defense systems, told Defense Daily during the same interview.
An uncooled seeker also reduces the total ownership cost. Going with an uncooled seeker also reduces the weight of the system, Riley noted. Every pound taken out of the system provides more range and capability, he added.
An uncooled seeker also enables the seeker to be left without concern for overheating, Riley said. “You can turn it on and leave it on.”
An uncooled seeker is also significantly cheaper and, when it comes to lifecycle concerns, there are no issues with seals going bad or bottles being recharged, Riley added.
Another issue is how well Raytheon’s seeker dome will hold up. Riley said it is not a liability. He said it doesn’t get damaged in the rain and meets all the environmental requirements.
One of the biggest points for Riley is the fact that Raytheon’s JAGM has commonality with its SDB II. “The tri-mode seeker for the Air Force on SDB II is the same as the tri- mode seeker on JAGM for the Army and Navy,” he said. And both are uncooled seekers, Riley added.
Tri-mode seekers are not the only component JAGM shares with another missile effort. Sherrick noted JAGM’s airframe was taken from Boeing’s Brimstone effort.
Brimstone is an air-to-ground missile, with the European missile consortium MBDA as prime contractor and supplying the seeker and Boeing providing the rest, Sherrick said.
“The key to JAGM is that this is a system,” Riley said.