Navy tests joint air-to-ground missile on AH-1Z helicopter
NewsJanuary 10, 2018
NAVAL AIR STATION, PATUXENT RIVER, Md. The U.S. Navy recently successfully completed its first Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) flight test, using the AH-1Z "Viper" attack helicopter, in a demo at Patuxent River.
JAGM -- a joint program between the Navy and the U.S. Army -- is a precision-guided munition for use against high-value stationary, moving, and relocatable land and maritime targets. The missile uses a multimode seeker to provide accurate targeting during daylight or in darkness, in adverse weather, under battlefield-obscured conditions, and against a variety of countermeasures.
During the flight, aircrew aboard the AH-1Z demonstrated the missile's compatibility with the aircraft as they navigated the missile through various operational modes and exercised its active seeker to search out and acquire targets.
"Initial results from the flight indicate the missile performed as planned,” said Liam Cosgrove, JAGM flight test lead. “We will continue to conduct a series of tests to prepare for live-fire testing of the JAGM off the AH-1Z scheduled for early [2018].”
JAGM is managed by the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. The weapons will initially be used on the AH-64 Apache and Marine Corps’ AH-1Z helicopters; Navy officials say that it is also compatible with any aircraft that can carry Hellfire missiles.
