Raytheon to Update Software of AGM-154 JSOW Weapons for Taiwan

The Pentagon announced a $29.35 million contract to Raytheon Monday, under which the company will update software of the Joint Standoff Weapon AGM-154C (Block III) used by Taiwan, Bahrain and Canada.

“This order updates the technical data package and software for the JSOW AGM-154C (Block III) for the governments of Taiwan, Bahrain and Canada,” as per an official DoD release issued today.

The AGM-154 JSOW precision strike weapon is a 1,000-pound class air-to-surface missile that can carry several different lethal packages. The weapon's standoff range of 12 to 63 nautical miles allows JSOW to remain outside the threat envelopes of enemy point defenses while effectively engaging and destroying targets. JSOW has been integrated on the F/A-18C/D/E/F, F-16, B-52, F-15E, F-35C, B-1B and B-2 aircraft.

The AGM-154C variant incorporates a 500-pound blast/fragmentation/penetrator warhead effective against fixed-point targets such as industrial facilities, logistical systems and hardened tactical targets. It incorporates an uncooled, long-wave imaging infrared seeker with autonomous target acquisition algorithms for precise targeting.

The latest variant, the JSOW AGM-154C-1, is the Navy's first air-to-ground Network-Enabled Weapon (NEW) capable of attacking stationary land and moving maritime targets. It includes GPS/INS guidance, terminal IR seeker and a Link 16 weapon data link. Integration of the Link-16 weapon data link and updated seeker software algorithms provide a capability against at-sea moving/relocatable targets.