StandOff & PGM Weapons

Austin

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US Air Force Details JASSM Improvements
[edefenceonline.com]

Few Major Points are

>>> At 14 ft. long and 2,250 lbs., the JASSM is an autonomous, conventional munition with a standoff range of more than 200 nautical miles. It is designed to defeat heavily defended, high-priority enemy targets deep behind enemy lines.

>>>The JASSM can be released in virtually any type of weather and uses its inertial-navigation system and GPS to find its intended target and then its infrared seeker for pinpoint accuracy just before impact. Once in the air, the stealthy cruise missile can reach high subsonic speeds at Mach 0.85. It is also equipped with an anti-jammer that keeps the enemy in its crosshairs regardless of their technology or capabilities.

>>>The newly christened JASSM program office was charged with not only making a high-survivability standoff weapon capable of attacking various types of targets, but also one made with speed and affordability in the acquisition world.

>>>While the JASSM has proven itself, the LRMSG has plans to make it even more lethal. The second phase of the program is to make an extended-range (ER) version of the weapon. The JASSM-ER will increase the standoff capability to more than 500 nautical miles. The weapon, which looks exactly the same as the original from the outside, has a new engine and can carry more fuel. It will first be integrated on the B-1B and will be ready for flight-testing later this spring.

>>>"A JASSM-ER will have the same lethality and stealth as a JASSM, but it will deliver that knock-out punch from more than twice as far away," said Lt. Col. Stephen Davis, JASSM Block 2 squadron commander. "In the simplest terms, this means some child's mom or dad won't have to fly their B-1 through enemy threats to strike many deeply placed targets."

>>>The LRMSG is also adding a weapons datalink that will enable key command-and-control elements to communicate with the weapon after it's already in flight. "The datalink will plug the weapon right into the warfighting network," said Michele Brazel, LRMSG deputy director. "They'll be able to track what each missile is doing in flight, retarget it in flight if need be, and then get a good indication of whether or not it destroyed its target."

>>>The JASSM is also scheduled to be one of the first weapons to be Universal Armament Interface compliant. UAI is a joint initiative that will allow the Air Force to incorporate new precision-guided munitions onto its aircraft without requiring major changes to each aircraft's software. New development activity is also planned to enable the JASSM to enhance its maritime engagement capability and become the air-launched weapon of choice, not only for highly defended fixed and relocatable land targets but moving maritime targets as well.

>>>"The United States desperately needed a first-day-of-the-war stealthy cruise missile that could go in and take out those threats that put our manned platforms at risk,"Gerry Freisthler, director of the Air Armament Center’s engineering- and acquisition-excellence directorate. "We needed something to go in and take on those double digit [surface-to-air missiles] that may be able to put our aircraft and aircrews at risk, and that's how JASSM came about.

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In February 2006, it was certified the OAO Region KAB-500S "GLONASS/GPS" guided bomb by the Russian Air Force's 929 GLITS, at Akhtubinsk Air Force Base in the Volga Region and the weapon was introduced formally into the Su-34 arsenal (another weapons that would be included into the Fullback arsenal will be the long-range gliding EO bomb UPAB-500 showed in September at the same place).

MKB Kompas, the design bureau that worked on the PSN-2001, GLONASS/GPS multichannel receptor (24 channels) anounced that they're integrating the PSN-2001 receptor into a new series of Tactical Missiles Corporation Kh-25 missiles, called Kh-25MS and MSE (for export), to this we can add the desire of NIIR-Phazotron to introduce its MMW (Ka band) radar seaker head PSM-E into a new Kh-25 series of missiles (called Kh-25MA/MAE), here is a short JMR snippet:

The PSM-E weighs no more than 16 kg and operates in Ka-band (18-40 GHz). The antenna can scan through ±30° in azimuth and ±20° in elevation. Designed to detect, lock onto and track small-sized moving or fixed ground targets, the seeker can be used by day or night and under clear or adverse weather conditions.

It will determine the range, velocity, angular co-ordinates and angular line-of-sight rates of targets, and has a high enough resolution to resolve a single target from within a closely spaced group. Target range is determined to an accuracy of 8-10 m; target velocity is to within 0.5 m/s.

According to Phazotron-NIIR, the PSM-E offers both contrast modes and correlation modes using references that are loaded during pre-flight preparations. Pre-flight preparation of the seeker takes 60 seconds and includes a built-in test routine.

Typical targets include stationary or moving armoured fighting vehicles; moving or deployed artillery; parked aircraft and helicopters; fortified positions; launch sites or transporter/erector launchers for tactical or surface-to-air missiles; radar sites; ammunition depots; fuel-oil depots; railway trains; bridges and crossings; and small industrial facilities. A tank can be detected at a range of 4 km; a small building at 5-8 km.

Some nice things coming out of Russia...

Sources:

www.missiles.ru

Ka-band seeker boosts Kh-25 attack capability
By Yevgeniy Letunovsky
JANE'S MISSILES AND ROCKETS 16-Sep-2005
 
Lockheed Expands Facility for JASSM, Other Cruise Missiles

8/17/2015

​A new annex for the production of cruise missiles has opened at Lockheed Martin's Pike County Operations facility in Troy, Ala., according to a company press release. Lockheed Martin makes the AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) at the Alabama facility, and spent $16.8 million to build the annex. In 2014, the company said the expansion—which increased the size of the facility by 70 percent—was a response to growing demand for cruise missiles, both at home and abroad (Poland is purchasing JASSMs to equip on its F-16 fleet). About 370 people work at the Troy facility, and 150 directly support the JASSM program or the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) program. Lockheed Martin produces about 7,000 missiles each year in Troy, according to Business Alabama. The JASSM, one of USAF's baseline conventional standoff weapons, is integrated on the B-1B, B-2, B-52, F-16, and F-15E and its extended range variant was approved for initial operations on USAF's B-1B fleet in December 2014.
 
JASSM Eyed For Multiple New Modes

9/17/2015

—John A. Tirpak

Lockheed Martin sees the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile vehicle as a stealthy “truck,” delivering a variety of effects—including non-kinetic ones—in addition to its primary mission as a unitary warhead weapon, company strike systems director R. Alan Jackson said in an interview with Air Force Magazine. Speaking at ASC15, Jackson said the basic JASSM has already evolved into the extended-range variant (JASSM-ER), and into the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM), but its combination of stealth, range, and internal volume could make it easily adaptable to other roles. It could function as a dispenser, Jackson said, releasing “individually targeted submunitions” similar to Lockheed’s Low Cost Autonomous Attack System (LOCAAS) mini-unmanned aerial vehicle. Lockheed also is in talks with the AIr Force about the JASSM-ER serving as an electromagnetic kill vehicle following up Air Force Research Laboratory’s success with the CHAMP high-powered microwave vehicle, which was hosted on an AGM-86C Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile. The missile may even be able to generate enough onboard power to deliver disabling laser effects. (Read the full report.)
 
What's powering JASSM? Is it the F107?
I don't think the engine's designed to deliver any amount of useful power - maybe one or two kilowatts for air vehicle systems, but that's it.
 
http://www.wearethemighty.com/intel/heres-2000-lb-missile-called-terrorist-killer
 
http://www.special-ops.org/19907/us-air-force-drops-vicious-next-gen-smart-missile-from-b-52-bomber/
 
"Vicious"? I wonder if JASSM sadistically toys with its target before exploding? Maybe the shrapnel is formed to mimic the jaws of pitbulls. Some editor had to approve that byline.
 
https://www.shephardmedia.com/news/defence-notes/usaf-gets-2000th-jassm/

Keep a few for the SCS ;D
 
Lockheed considers modifying JASSM to carry small munitions, UAS

Lockheed Martin is drawing up ideas for ways to turn its Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile into a delivery system for smaller munitions and potentially small unmanned aerial systems, a configuration that could be immediately available with federal funding, a company official told Inside the Air Force this week.
 
I would have thought that Lockheed would have designed and built a special variant of JASSM to carry small munitions instead of modifying the existing missile. :-\
 
FighterJock said:
I would have thought that Lockheed would have designed and built a special variant of JASSM to carry small munitions instead of modifying the existing missile. :-\

Isn't the way you get a "special variant" is to modify the existing missile? ???
 
I meant to say that Lockheed could design a new missile with the range of JASSM but carrying small munitions instead of a penetrating conventional warhead.
 
FighterJock said:
I meant to say that Lockheed could design a new missile with the range of JASSM but carrying small munitions instead of a penetrating conventional warhead.

They could, but why bother? JASSM seems to have been designed as basically a "bus" anyway, so switching out a new payload module should be pretty straightforward. Payloads of submunitions and even small air vehicles (such as P-LOCAAS) have been studied since the beginning of the JASSM program.
 
TomS said:
FighterJock said:
I meant to say that Lockheed could design a new missile with the range of JASSM but carrying small munitions instead of a penetrating conventional warhead.

They could, but why bother? JASSM seems to have been designed as basically a "bus" anyway, so switching out a new payload module should be pretty straightforward. Payloads of submunitions and even small air vehicles (such as P-LOCAAS) have been studied since the beginning of the JASSM program.

The history of the contemporary (European) Apache/ Scalp/ Storm Shadow family of cruise missiles is illuminating; it started out with submunitions & single unitary warhead versions but the latter was the one actually bought in any numbers. These type of cruise missiles are expensive and are generally restricted to use against key targets which are typically hardened and better defended. The types of targets you would use Submunitions on tend not to be as critical or as well defended and tend not to be seen to justify the cost.
Hence the use of the likes of the cheaper unpowered shorter range JSOW rather than the JASSM for delivery of submunitions up to this point.
Against more sophisticated defences I could see a possible role for a submunitions JASSM but it may be a small niche with very limited production.
 
On further reflection, I suspect they see this JASSM variant being a penetrating/loitering delivery platform for smaller smart weapons (like Shadow Hawk, LM's answer to Griffin and Viper Strike) rather than simply scattering dumb submunitions (or even semi-smart ones like SFW).
 
Lockheed has also been looking at accommodating smaller, lighter unitary warheads as a poor man's range boost.
 
New wing design adds range to JASSM-ER

http://www.janes.com/article/72761/new-wing-design-adds-range-to-jassm-er
 
^
“We completed sub-scale wind tunnel testing of the new wing at the NASA Ames Research Centre, California facility in late 2016,” said Denney. ”We will be going into a full-scale wind tunnel test in early 2018; within a year or so after that we will be conducting several flight tests with the US Air Force. The [launch] platform for JASSM-ER with the redesigned wing has not been fully identified yet, but I suspect it will be the B-1B [Lancer strategic bomber]. Typically, we use the B-1B to introduce new capabilities into JASSM because we have the most flight experience on the B-1B.”
 
http://aviationweek.com/technology/us-air-force-jassm-er-rolling-out-new-fighters-bombers
 
Flyaway said:
New wing design adds range to JASSM-ER

http://www.janes.com/article/72761/new-wing-design-adds-range-to-jassm-er

"Jason Denney, Programme Director for Long Range Strike Systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control told Jane’s that the new wing design will deliver a “significant range increase” for the JASSM-ER. Denney was not cleared to disclose specifics with regard to range augmentation, or the design, dimensions and weight of the new wing, noting only that it leverages laminar flow technologies"

Laminar flow on a substantially swept wing? sounds unlikely.
Now, if they can unsweep the thing a little bit, and keep an acceptable stability margin, i could see that. Advantage of unsweeping would also be to gain wingspan and reduce induced drag, although then you'd want to cruise slower to fly in the drag bucket.
 
550 per year represents an averaged output of two very sophisticated missiles per (open) day!
...
Let says the equivalent tonnage in sunk ships of one fregate per 24h? But you'll say that a peer enemy won't stop fighting during the weekends.
 
So the body of the missile is completely the same? There's no mention of a new engine or different internal structure. No mention of added fuel. Only different wing design. And yet the range grows from 500-something nm to 1000 nm??? How does that work? And that's on top of the initial range increase from 300-something nm to 500-something nm. All from the same design, all within some 25 years. I do get a feeling there's a bunch of details about that new JASSM variant that were omitted.
 
Anyone know what weapon, counter A2AD, this might be?

USAF wants $1.1B over FYDP, industry proposals to upgrade counter-A2/AD missile for F-35
The Air Force is looking to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years and will publish a request for proposals this spring to upgrade a developmental Navy guided missile that's intended to enhance the F-35 fighter jet's performance against anti-access/area-denial defenses.
(448 words)
 
Anyone know what weapon, counter A2AD, this might be?

USAF wants $1.1B over FYDP, industry proposals to upgrade counter-A2/AD missile for F-35
The Air Force is looking to invest more than $1 billion over the next five years and will publish a request for proposals this spring to upgrade a developmental Navy guided missile that's intended to enhance the F-35 fighter jet's performance against anti-access/area-denial defenses.
(448 words)
Is that SiaW? Based on AARGM-ER?
.The baseline version [AARGM] is already integrated onto the F-35. Military testers will vet the SiAW on the F-35 in the early 2020s so it can begin regular operations by the mid-2020s. It’s expected to wield a new warhead, the design of which is slated to end in fiscal 2021.


The Air Force created the program in 2018 and requested $160.4 million for SiAW development in its 2021 budget, ramping up to $364.5 million in 2025. The request did not say how much the weapon will cost in total
 
 

 


That is excellent news for both companies Grey Havoc, how many missiles are involved in both contracts?
 
Around 750 JASSM-ERs in two lots, one of them for FMS. With regards as to AARGM-ER, I would hazard a guess that this initial LRP batch will be less than a hundred missiles at most. Could be small as 30-40 missiles.
 
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Video from article. 400km range surface/surface missile. Hits a stationary target. I assume there is a datalink to update target position if its moving. In this case a networked group of aerial drones might be able to see that far away and relay the data back.

 
 

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