DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas: The 337th Test and Evaluation Squadron successfully completed their first captive carry test of a protracted Range Anti-Ship Missile on-board a B-1 Bomber June 17, marking a big breakthrough toward the B-1′s role within the maritime environment.
Designed and developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and the Office of Naval Research, the LRASM is predicated off the Joint Air to Surface Standoff Missile Extended Range and was constructed as a part of an effort to conquer challenges faced by current anti-ship missiles penetrating sophisticated enemy air defense systems.
“This is a huge stepping stone toward fielding an anti-surface warfare cruise missile,” said Maj. Shane Garner, 337th TES. “However, on the end of this program, this actual missile will not be a fielded weapon; it’s what we call a technology demonstrator. The purpose of this program isn’t to field a missile, but to illustrate the brand new technologies they would like to place into an anti-surface warfare JASSM variant.”
Because the LRASM leverages the state-of-the-art JASSM-ER airframe, it proved to be a continuing transition for the B-1 in relation to compatibility, significantly reducing the time and fees related to traditional weapons testing.
“When the B-1 looks at this missile it just reads it as a JASSM-ER,” said Capt. Alicia Datzman, 337th TES. “In turn, DARPA was ready to exploit that capability and easily add at the new technology to expedite the price. Currently, JASSM officials are doing everything they’re able to to take this missile’s technology and move it right into a program that might eventually become operational.”
However, while the LRASM does utilize the airframe of the JASSM-ER, it incorporates additional sensors and systems to accomplish a stealthy and survivable subsonic cruise missile in addition to a weapon data link and an enhanced digital anti-jam GPS to detect and destroy specific targets within a gaggle of ships.
“One of the largest improvements of this weapon is its ability to receive target or coordinate updates in-flight,” Garner said. “Unlike the JASSMs ‘fire and forget’ mentality, this new technology provides you with the risk to ‘fire and alter your mind.’ As a result of standoff feature these weapons possess, they have an inclination to be in-flight for a while. For us to have the ability to change its coordinates at the fly provides us with a wide variety of pliability.”
The overarching concept behind the B-1′s rise within the maritime environment could be attributed to the dep. of Defense’s much discussed Air-Sea Battle concept, during which long range bombers function a key tenet.
ASB is designed to steer the four branches of the defense force as they interact to keep a continued U.S. advantage against the worldwide proliferation of advanced military technologies and anti-access/area denial capabilities.
Furthermore, should the LRASM technology be fielded right into a variant of the JASSM-ER, the B-1 presents itself as a premier platform to hold the weapon, because it is currently in a position to carrying 24 of the long range missiles, tops across all Air Force platforms.
The 337th TES is scheduled to finish its first live-fire test of the missile within the coming months.
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