The AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) is an American military program to develop an

air-to-surface missile An air-to-surface missile (ASM) or air-to-ground missile (AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft at targets on land or sea. There are also unpowered guided glide bombs not considered missiles. The two most common prop ...

to replace the current air-launched BGM-71 TOW,

AGM-114 Hellfire The AGM-114 Hellfire is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) first developed for anti-armor use, later developed for precision drone strikes against other target types, especially high-value targets. It was originally developed under the name '' Heli ...

, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps plan to buy thousands of JAGMs.

Description

The Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) program is a follow-on from the unsuccessful

AGM-169 Joint Common Missile The AGM-169 Joint Common Missile (JCM) was a tactical air-to-surface missile program (2002–2007) developed by the Lockheed Martin corporation for the United States military aircraft, such as attack and utility helicopters, strike fighters and f ...

program that was cancelled due to budget cuts. JAGM will share basically the same objectives and technologies as JCM but will be developed over a longer time scale.

History

In June 2007 the US Defense Department released a draft request for proposals (RFP) launching a competition for the Joint Air to Ground Missile (JAGM) program. In 2008, Raytheon and Boeing teamed up on a $125 million contract, and

Lockheed Martin The Lockheed Martin Corporation is an American aerospace, arms, defense, information security, and technology corporation with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It ...

received a $122 million technology development contract for the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) system. The 27-month contracts from the U.S. Army's Aviation and Missile Command is for a competitive risk-reduction phase. Each team submitted its proposal in the spring of 2011, with contract award expected in the first quarter of 2012. However, in September the Army and Navy requested the JAGM program be terminated. JAGM survived a budget reduction in 2012 with reduced funding. In 2012, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon received contracts from the U.S. Army to extend the JAGM technology development program including the design, test, and demonstration phases for the JAGM guidance section. In 2013, the Army announced it would not award Raytheon a contract for the remainder of the Technology Development (TD) phase and will continue with Lockheed's contract. In 2015, the Army issued an RFP for a JAGM guidance section upgrade. Lockheed Martin was to offer its dual-mode laser and millimeter wave radar seeker, and Raytheon may submit its tri-mode seeker which adds imaging infrared if it chooses to compete. Lockheed Martin was awarded a $66 million engineering and manufacturing contract to combine its laser and millimeter wave seekers into the Hellfire Romeo missile body. Raytheon chose not to compete but retains its tri-mode seeker should the Army request it. The designation AGM-179 was assigned to the JAGM program. A Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract for JAGM was approved in 2018.Lockheed Martin's JAGM missile approved for LRIP phase
''Air Recognition''. 28 June 2018. The AGM-179A achieved Initial Operational Capability (IOC) with USMC AH-1Z helicopters in early 2022, clearing the weapon for operational deployment.Marine Corps Joint Air-to-Ground Missile achieves Initial Operational Capability
'NAVAIR News'', 04 March 2022 On 30 August 2022, the JAGM was declared ready for full-rate production. 1,000 missiles had been produced by February 2022, manufacturing at the minimum sustainment rate under low-rate production. Improvements to the JAGM are being developed, such as a medium-range variant with a range of without changing the missile's dimensions.

Launch platforms

* AH-64 Apache *

MQ-1C Gray Eagle The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle (previously the Warrior; also called Sky Warrior and ERMP or Extended-Range Multi-Purpose) is a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system (UAS). It was developed by General Atomics Aero ...

* MH-60R/S Seahawk *

MH-60 Black Hawk The Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk is a four-blade, twin-engine, medium-lift utility military helicopter manufactured by Sikorsky Aircraft. Sikorsky submitted the S-70 design for the United States Army's Utility Tactical Transport Aircraft System ...

Defensive Armed Penetrator (DAP) * AH-1Z Viperhttp://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story_channel.jsp?channel=defense&id=news/awx/2010/10/12/awx_10_12_2010_p0-261127.xml&headline=U.S.%20Marines%20Propose%20AH-1Z%20Production%20Boost . *

OH-58F Kiowa The Bell OH-58 Kiowa is a family of single-engine single-rotor military helicopters used for observation, utility, and direct fire support. It was produced by the American manufacturer Bell Helicopter and is closely related to the Model 206A ...

AH-6 Little Bird The Boeing AH-6 is a series of light helicopter gunships based on the MH-6 Little Bird and MD 500 family. Developed by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems, these include the Unmanned Little Bird (ULB) demonstrator, the A/MH-6X Mission Enhanced Little Bi ...

MQ-9 Reaper The General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper (sometimes called Predator B) is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) capable of remotely controlled or autonomous flight operations developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (GA-ASI) primarily for the Unit ...

* Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II *

Mk 41 Vertical Launching System The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis Co ...

(through the exls host or with the 3 cell exls)

Operators

: Selected by UK to equip its AH-64E Apache helicopters. : The JAGM was intended for joint service with the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, and the

U.S. Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through comb ...

by providing a single missile configuration for many platforms. JAGM offered the services increased operational flexibility and reduced logistics support costs. In February 2012, the Navy and Marine Corps terminated their investment in the program, saying it was a "manageable risk" to do so and that they would instead focus on the GBU-53/B SDB II and continued Hellfire procurement, making the JAGM an Army-only program. In March 2014, they re-entered the program, with documents showing integration of the missile onto Marine AH-1Z helicopters.JAGM: Joint Air-Ground Missile Again
- Defenseindustrydaily.com

References

External links

Army RDT&E 2009 Budget Item Justification (PDF)

Army RDT&E 2010 Budget Item Justification (PDF)

U.S. Navy NAVAIR JAGM page

Raytheon JAGM page

2012 Army Weapon Systems Handbook - JAGM

{{Lockheed Martin Air-to-surface missiles of the United States Anti-tank guided missiles of the United States