The U.S. Navy is satisfied with the results of a recent critical design review for Raytheon's Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) C-1, though the program manager notes that adding a datalink to an existing weapon is likely to meet challenges.

The C-1 variant will maintain the outer mold line and airframe of the existing JSOW glide while adding a Rockwell Collins datalink, which will be used for in-flight targeting updates, and new seeker algorithms optimized for targets at sea. The same datalink is being added to the Harpoon Block III as part of a Navy effort to "network" its existing weapons.

"This is the first time we have ever taken a true datalink...fitting it into an existing weapon," say Capt. Mat Winter, JSOW program manager at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md. Maintaining the same weapon weight and flight characteristics leaves little margin for technical changes. By contrast, when a datalink was added to the ship-launched Tomahawk cruise missile, designers started with a clean sheet of paper.

Rockwell is "slightly" behind on delivering hardware for integration on both Harpoon and JSOW, but Winter says the delays are negligible and aren't detracting from overall execution of the program.

Indeed, Raytheon's work on the seeker algorithms is "beating our expectations," Winter says, making the datalink the pacing item for the effort at this point.

JSOW C-1 will begin its captive carriage tests next spring.

Meanwhile, Raytheon is continuing work on a powered JSOW that will combine the existing weapon with the engine from the Miniature Air Launched Decoy (MALD). This is one of several options vying for a forthcoming requirement from the Navy for a long-range weapon designed to destroy targets at sea.

Lockheed Martin is also developing an extended-range Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM-ER) supposedly optimized for maritime targets. And Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace is hoping to penetrate the niche market in the United States with its Joint Strike Missile, which is based on the Naval Strike Missile it developed for Norway's navy. Boeing is also examining concepts for improvements to today's Standoff Land Attack Missile-Extended Range (SLAM-ER).

A competition is not expected soon, however. "The Navy is evaluation the capability gaps in 2020 and out with respect to" surface targets, Winter says. An analysis of alternatives, which takes at least 18 months to execute, hasn't yet begun. It is likely this study and a competition would be included in the fiscal 2012 or 2014 budget, according to Winter.

Today's weapons for this target set include the SLAM-ER and Harpoon. However, those weapons are expected to run out of service life by 2025, he says.

Meanwhile, in its push for more technologies against moving land targets, Winter says the Navy is expected to declare initial operational capability (IOC) for the Dual-Mode Laser Guided Bomb, a Global Positioning System modification for Lockheed's Paveway II, as soon as next month. It will be initially used for the Marine Corps on its AV-8B Harrier fleet with clearance expected for the F/A-18 family expected next month.

IOC for the Laser JDAM, which adds a laser head to Boeing's 500-pound JDAM, is expected any day, Winter says.

JSOW photo: Raytheon