Raytheon, under contract with U.S. Naval Air Systems Command, expects to complete development of the JSOW Block II in early 2006. Block II is planned to reduce JSOW unit cost by reducing the parts count and improving the manufacturing process.

All variants of future JSOW will be manufactured in the Block II configuration. Block II will maintain all of the standoff and survivability of the current JSOW and include an improved anti-jam Global Positioning System receiver.

Development of a new payload option for the JSOW A is underway which should also be complete in early 2006. The new version will use a unitary 500 pound BLU 111 warhead.

This unitary variant will eliminate the unexploded ordnance concerns of cluster munitions while maintaining or increasing effectiveness against a broad target set. It is primarily intended for the international market. Work will be performed at Raytheon's Missile Systems business in Tucson.

"We've received fantastic feedback on the combat capability of JSOW," said Ron Shields, Raytheon's JSOW program director. "We are working with the Navy to make JSOW an even more cost effective weapon with increased capability." More than 400 JSOW-A weapons have been used in combat operations to date.

JSOW is a joint Navy and Air Force program. It is a family of low-cost, air-to-ground weapons that employ an integrated Global Positioning System/Inertial Navigation system to guide the weapon to the target. The JSOW uses a common and modular weapon body capable of carrying various payloads.

Its long standoff range of 70 nautical miles (maximum kinematic performance) allows delivery from well outside the lethal range of most enemy air defenses. The AGM-154A (also called JSOW-A) variant dispenses BLU-97 combined-effect bomblets for use against soft and area targets. It is produced for use on the F/A-18, F-16, F-15E, B-1, B-2 and B-52 aircraft.

The AGM-154C, or JSOW-C, variant incorporates an imaging infrared seeker for high precision and a BAE Systems' Broach multi-stage warhead that has both a blast-fragmentation and hard target penetration capability for use against point targets. JSOW-C entered low-rate initial production in June 2003. It is currently being produced for Navy F/A-18s and has been selected by Poland for use on its F-16s.

The new JSOW variant builds on a legacy of 13 years of development and production experience providing the weapons to Navy and Air Force for use on six different aircraft. Raytheon continues to add new capabilities to meet our customers' needs.

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