The AGM-169 Joint Common Missile (JCM) was a tactical

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 pro ...

program (2002–2007) developed by the Lockheed Martin corporation for the

United States military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is ...

aircraft, such as

attack Attack may refer to: Warfare and combat * Offensive (military) * Charge (warfare) * Attack (fencing) * Strike (attack) * Attack (computing) * Attack aircraft Books and publishing * ''The Attack'' (novel), a book * '' Attack No. 1'', comic an ...

and

utility helicopter A utility helicopter is a multi-purpose helicopter capable of fulfilling many different roles. Civil Many civilian helicopters are made for utility work such as agricultural aircraft. Many police and fire departments maintain and operate util ...

strike fighter In current military parlance, a strike fighter is a multirole combat aircraft designed to operate both as an attack aircraft and as an air superiority fighter. As a category, it is distinct from fighter-bombers. It is closely related to the co ...

s and

fighter-bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, ...

Overview

The missile was designed to replace the AGM-114 Hellfire and

AGM-65 Maverick The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, a ...

. Its seeker head used a combination of semi-active laser, millimeter wave, and IR guidance similar to that found on the

FGM-148 Javelin The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable anti-tank missile system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fi ...

anti-tank missile. This allows the missile to have a greater

fire and forget Fire-and-forget is a type of missile guidance which does not require further external intervention after launch such as illumination of the target or wire guidance, and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the targe ...

capability and to operate off all current air platforms. The missile has longer range, a more potent warhead, and a "safing" system, allowing naval aircraft to return to ship without jettisoning the munitions. This missile also shares similarities to the MBDA

Brimstone missile Brimstone is a ground or air-launched ground attack missile developed by MBDA UK for the UK's Royal Air Force. It was originally intended for " fire-and-forget" use against mass formations of enemy armour, using a millimetre wave (mmW) active ...

Development

Originally known as CMM (Common Modular Missile), the JCM (Joint Common Missile) was to be also a replacement for the BGM-71 TOW, but this requirement was later dropped. The program began in 2002 and a formal RFP (Request For Proposals) was issued to the industry in late 2003. Competitors included Boeing teamed with Northrop Grumman, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon. During late 2003 and early 2004, the competitors tested components (rocket motor, guidance, fuzing, system interface, etc.) of their JCM proposals. This included test-launches of prototype missiles. In May 2004, Lockheed Martin was declared winner of the JCM competition, and received the prime contract for a four-year SDD (System Development and Demonstration) phase. In December that year, the official designation AGM-169 was allocated to JCM. The development of the missile was first halted in December 2004. The program was on schedule and within its budget at that time, according to Lockheed Martin. However, due to the constraints of the war in Iraq, funding was cut. In 2005 and 2006, Congress began looking into reviving the program when it was found that modernizing the Hellfire would yield higher costs and reduced capability. The JCM has been test flown on the AH-64D in a captive test configuration. In May 2007 the U.S. Army formally brought the program to a close and requested that Lockheed Martin cease all development work. It is expected that a follow on program, the

Joint Air to Ground Missile The AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) is an American military program to develop an air-to-surface missile to replace the current air-launched BGM-71 TOW, AGM-114 Hellfire, and AGM-65 Maverick missiles. The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine C ...

(JAGM) will be opened to competitive tender.

Program status

* December 2004 – Pentagon announces cancellation of JCM. * March 2005 – Congressional lobbying to keep the program alive. * September 2005 – Captive JCM test package flown on AH-64D Apache. * January 2006 – Congress restores $30 million to keep the program in mothballs. * September 2006 – U.S. Army includes $150 million for JCM in FY-08 budget request. * May 2007 – The U.S. Army Aviation and Missile Life Cycle Management Command formally instructs Lockheed Martin to cease work on the program and close out the contract by June 15, 2007.

References

External links

AGM-169 JCM - Designation-Systems.Net

{{DEFAULTSORT:Agm-169 Joint Common Missile AGM-169 AGM-169 Abandoned military rocket and missile projects of the United States

Overview

Development

Program status

See also

References

External links