Length 1.775 m (5 ft 10 in) | Weight 49 kg (108 lb) Diameter 0.178 m (7 in) | |
 | ||
Type Tactical air-to-surface missile Warhead Multi-purpose shaped charge/blast fragmentation | ||
The AGM-169 Joint Common Missile (JCM) was a tactical air-to-surface missile developed by the Lockheed Martin corporation from the United States.
Contents
Overview
The missile was designed to replace the AGM-114 Hellfire and AGM-65 Maverick. Its seeker head used a combination of semi-active laser, millimeter wave, and IR guidance similar to that found on the FGM-148 Javelin anti-tank missile. This allows the missile to have a greater fire and forget 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.
Development
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 (JAGM) will be opened to competitive tender.