WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Raytheon and Boeing successfully completed the third launch of a Joint Air-to-Ground Missile to test engine design.
The two companies said the stage is set for engineering and manufacturing development of the missile.
"The government's requirements for the competitive prototyping fly-off were to fire three preliminary design review configuration missiles," said Bob Francois, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems. "We were the only contractor who met those requirements and we were the only contractor whose missiles hit all three targets.
"To continue maturing our design, we used our own funding to shoot a weapon with an EMD-representative motor."
Raytheon said during the Oct. 23 test, the JAGM was fired using the Boeing-ATK rocket motor, which was designed for EMD. The test met all primary objectives including updating the flight control software and providing data to incorporate into the simulation software.
The Raytheon-Boeing JAGM features a fully integrated tri-mode seeker that incorporates semi-active laser, uncooled imaging infrared and millimeter wave guidance.
The weapon leverages proven components from other Raytheon and Boeing programs, such as the Raytheon Small Diameter Bomb II and the Boeing Brimstone.
The Raytheon-Boeing team has completed six successful tests of the missile to date. Three of the tests used company funding to reduce program risk. The other three tests fulfilled a contractual obligation to the government to complete a competitive prototyping fly-off.
