NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER CHINA LAKE, Calif., Feb. 2, 2009 /PRNewswire/—The U.S. Navy tested a new Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN) shaped-charge warhead being considered for the Joint Standoff Weapon C-1. The new warhead delivers the same effect as the warhead currently planned for the JSOW C-1 at a reduced cost to the warfighter.
"Cost reduction is critical to JSOW's success," said Cmdr. Andrew Kessler, deputy program manager for JSOW in the U.S. Navy's Precision Strike Weapons program office. "We're always on the lookout for new opportunities to maintain or improve weapon capability for the warfighter at reduced cost to the taxpayer."
The U.S. Navy and Raytheon funded the demonstration and used proprietary warhead technology developed by Raytheon. It was the second demonstration of this technology on the JSOW; the first took place in late 2007.
"Raytheon is focused on providing the warfighter the best value possible," said Phyllis McEnroe, Raytheon's JSOW program director. "This demonstration is just one of many ways Raytheon drives down costs while maintaining or enhancing a system's capability."
JSOW is a family of affordable air-to-ground weapons, employing an integrated GPS/Inertial Navigation System for targeting. The JSOW C-1 builds upon the combat-proven JSOW C by adding a data link, enabling the system to receive in-flight target updates from the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet aircraft. The weapon also has new seeker algorithms to allow the missile to hit moving maritime targets.
Raytheon Company, with 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 87 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 73,000 people worldwide.
Source: Raytheon Company