Air International 2022-05
T.Fish - Staying grounded
The Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile - Extended Range shares the same powerful capabilities and stealthy characteristics of the baseline JASSM, but with more than two-and-a-half times the range
MALD-J is an expendable decoy system that can operate alone or in pairs and is able to move closer to the target radar than conventional aircraft-based electronic warfare when jamming electronics. It has a loitering capability to remain in the target area, spoofing ground operators while air-to-surface missile complete their mission
An EA-18G Growler flies above the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan during operations in the Arabian Sea in August 2021. Growler will be fitted with the AGM-88G Anti-Radiation Guided Missile Extended Range (AARGM-ER) weapon and manufacturer Northrop Grumman secured a second Low-Rate Initial Production contract in February 2022
In October 2016, an F-35A conventional take-off and landing aircraft completed the first in-flight weapons release of a 2,000lb Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) from a fifth-generation fighter. The F-35A is vital to future air warfare with its ability to penetrate a contested Anti-Access Area Denial air domain and conduct suppression of enemy air defence operations, destroying ground targets with various guided munitions
The Small Diameter Bomb Increment II weapon has been in full rate production since 2017 for the capability to receive updated target co-ordinates mid-flight via two-way data link communications. This allows airborne or ground controllers to send in-flight target updates and to abort a mission post-release
An artist’s composite of the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) fired from an F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The missile is a 4m-long, 416kg, high subsonic missile that has a low-altitude sea-skimming flight profile to avoid detection by long-range radar and using ATR and an HR seeker to ensure survivability in a denied environment
6 января 2021г. европейская компания MBDA объявила о подписании с МО Великобритании контракта на 550 млн. фунтов стерлингов, предусматривающего поставку новейших легких крылатых ракет Spear 3. Они должны стать основным оружием класса «воздух-земля» для многофункциональных истребителей F-35B Королевских ВВС. Длина ракеты составляет 1,8 м, диаметр - 180 мм, масса - 90 кг, максимальна дальность полета - 140 км. Первые пуски состоялись в 2016 г.
An artist’s impression of the Spear 3 missile fired by a F-35 Lightning II fighter. It is based on the earlier Brimstone missile capability and the image highlights the multimode seeker capability of the new weapon and the potential for co-operative engagement between missiles as they launch an attack