A US Marine Corps assault helicopter fired off a brand new ‘fireplace and neglect’ missile for the primary time within the Pacific, putting a transferring vessel

• A US Marine Corps assault helicopter fired a brand new missile in the direction of a transferring sea goal within the Pacific.

• It marked a primary for the AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Floor Missile.

• The JAGM confronted earlier testing challenges, however it’s thought-about key to boosting the lethality of US assault helicopters.

A US Marine Corps assault helicopter fired off a brand new missile within the Pacific earlier this week, putting a transferring goal vessel and marking a primary for the weapon.

The take a look at is a notable second within the growth of the precision missile, which confronted struggles in its preliminary testing.

The thirty first Marine Expeditionary Unit announced the strike train on Friday, revealing that two days earlier, an AH-1Z Viper “fired a stay AGM-179 Joint Air-to-Floor Missile (JAGM), putting a towed transferring coaching vessel throughout a coaching mission at sea.” The coaching occurred within the Philippine Sea, off the coast of Okinawa.

A video shared by the unit confirmed the take a look at, starting with preparations and the crew loading ammunition onto the assault helicopter.

Then, the AH-1Z flies off from Okinawa Air Base towards the Philippine Sea, the place it fires the JAGM at a transferring sea vessel. The JAGM then hits the goal, destroying it on impression.

Throughout this week’s train, a UH-1Y additionally participated, at one level unleashing a hail of bullets from a door gun at different transferring targets, corresponding to one thing that regarded like a quick boat, earlier than returning to base.

In keeping with the thirty first Marine Expeditionary Unit, “this EXPO strike launched the primary stay JAGM from an AH-1Z within the Indo-Pacific area, and employed a wide range of munitions in opposition to a high-speed towed goal.”

The JAGM is a precision-guided munition ready for use in opposition to each stationary and transferring land and sea targets. Decided to be an upgrade from other missiles, like Hellfire and Maverick, the weapon’s preliminary growth and testing was barely troubled, together with a year-long delay for full-rate manufacturing approval and several other failed operational checks.

It achieved preliminary working functionality with the Marines in 2022.

The Marines’ preliminary checks in 2019 went south when two missiles fired did not attain their targets. And the Military’s first trials with the JAGM featured a bunch of issues, together with munitions lacking their targets and failing to detonate. Throughout the board, each the Marines and the Military have stated that they had been in a position to resolve these points in subsequent testing.

The JAGM incorporates a dual-mode seeker and steering system offering precision strike and “fireplace and neglect” capabilities, that means the launcher would not must intervene or dictate the missile’s flight in the direction of its goal as soon as it has been fired. The JAGM may strike a number of targets and options higher precision strike capabilities in various climate circumstances.

When the Marines achieved preliminary working functionality with the weapon, Col. Vasilios Pappas, the Marine Corps H-1 Gentle/Assault Helicopter program supervisor, stated that “incorporating methods corresponding to JAGM on the AH-1Z is important in conserving the platform on the forefront of warfighting capabilities.”

Correction: June 28, 2024 — An earlier model of this text misidentified the opposite collaborating helicopter. It was a UH-1Y.

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