U.S. Navy attack aircraft aboard its 11 Nimitiz-class supercarriers are transitioning to the new Joint Standoff Weapon C-1 (JSOW), the Navy's first air-to-ground "network-enabled" weapon.

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This highly accurate glide weapon is specifically designed to destroy maneuvering high-speed warships such as modern destroyers at longer distances. It also allows direct attack on enemy air defenses contesting U.S. Navy attack aircraft.

The C-1 is an air-to-surface standoff from point defense (SOPD) weapon used against a variety of targets. Older versions of the C-1 arm all U.S. Navy attack aircraft and this weapon's success in combat since it was first used in 1998 has made it one of the most successful weapons in the Pentagon's history.

The basic JSOW or the AGM-154 is a low cost, highly lethal glide weapon with a standoff capability. The JSOW family of air-to-surface glide weapons are 450 kilograms bombs that provide standoff from 28 km at low altitude launch and up to 110 km high altitude launch.

JSOW is a fire-and-forget weapon that employs a coupled Global Positioning System (GPS)/Inertial Navigation System (INS).

The C-1 model is integrated with a Link 16 network radio, allowing the weapon to attack moving maritime targets. A two-way datalink allows the F/A-18E/F and F-35A/C launch aircraft or another controller to provide real-time target updates to the weapon, shift it to a different target or abort the mission.

It 's armed with the new BROACH warhead, a two-stage warhead whose first stage shaped-charge can penetrate armor, concrete or earth after which the second stage warhead detonates.  

U.S. Navy attack aircraft, however, will have to contend with the HHQ-9 surface-to-air missile defending many of the People Liberation Army Navy's modern warships. The HHQ-9 is a Mach 4.2 SAM with a slant range of 200 km.

Last February, the land based version of this SAM, the HQ-9, was deployed to Woody Island in the Paracels, a significant military escalation by the People's Liberation Army in the South China Sea.

TagsJoint Standoff Weapon C-1, JSOW, U.S. Navy, HHQ-9