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Old 12-04-2021, 04:00 AM
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Arrow Move Over, Hellfire: The Marine Corps’s New Joint Air Ground Missile Is Even Better

Move Over, Hellfire: The Marine Corps’s New Joint Air Ground Missile Is Even Better
By: Kris Osborn - National Interest News - 12-04-21
Re: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/bu...-better-197535

Photo link: https://nationalinterest.org/sites/d...?itok=T200cRZX
Tags: Marine Corps - Hellfire Missiles - JAGM - AH-1Z - Amphibious Assault

It's bringing tank-killing firepower to amphibious warfare.

The Marine Corps is firing the new Joint Air Ground Missile (JAGM) tank-killing replacement for the Hellfire missile from its AH-1Z Viper helicopter.

In a recent test firing at Eglin Air Force Base, the Corps fired off a JAGM from its signature attack helicopter to assess the ability of the weapon to attack coastal targets and emerging enemies in littoral waters. Establishing and advancing “sea control” is the aim of the assessments as the Corps looks to increase lethality against maritime, coastal, and land-based enemy targets.

Built to improve upon the combat-tested technology of the Hellfire Missile, JAGM is equipped with two sensor technologies to optimize missile performance on maritime targets. The intent of the test, according to a Corps press statement, was to refine attack tactics, techniques, and procedures to employ the new weapon in a range of anticipated future combat scenarios.

Tank-killing kinds of firepower, able to track and destroy maritime targets on the move, brings a substantial lethality dimension to amphibious warfare. The helicopter could of course support an amphibious assault by attacking enemy small boats, larger surface ships, and even submarines when they surface to communicate. A JAGM-armed attack helicopter such as the AH-1Z Viper could also help stop an enemy amphibious operation by destroying armored vehicles in transit, attacking landing craft, and even firing directly upon surface ships. While the exact range of JAGM is not known, a Hellfire missile operates within roughly an eight-kilometer range.

How will the JAGM advance HELLFIRE technology? The Army has greatly upgraded a number of Hellfire missile enhancements such as blast-frag warheads, anti-tank weapons, and additional metal sleeves to maximize fragmentation for an anti-personnel effect. Perhaps a JAGM will attack a deck crew of an enemy ship and wish to impact or degrade an enemy's operational capability by disabling advanced maritime sensors, drones, and land-based command and control structures.

The Corps is now analyzing collected data and results from the test with a mind to better developing an idea for how best to prepare the force for a new generation of air-sea-land threats. Lethality will need to not only need to extend over long ranges but also integrate precision with an ability to destroy maritime targets on the move. If operating from the flight deck of a U.S. destroyer, a JAGM-armed Viper attack helicopter can greatly expand its attack options and hold what the Corps statement described as “expeditionary advanced base operations.”

About this writer: Kris Osborn is a defense writer for the National Interest. Osborn previously served at the Pentagon as a Highly Qualified Expert with the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army—Acquisition, Logistics & Technology.

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Personal note: It seems everyday something new is popping up in the military
arsenal. Innovation is ramped of late. What do we do sell our fairly new items
to other countries? Doesn't seem like much of what we build has a re-cycle
method to offset the cost of the upgraded or new models of late.
-
I would guess there are no perfect weapons other than our nukes but who
knows there may be a planet killer parked away just in case there is no
alternative? Ya never know scientist are partially crazy we've learned
from the past.
__________________
Boats

O Almighty Lord God, who neither slumberest nor sleepest; Protect and assist, we beseech thee, all those who at home or abroad, by land, by sea, or in the air, are serving this country, that they, being armed with thy defence, may be preserved evermore in all perils; and being filled with wisdom and girded with strength, may do their duty to thy honour and glory; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

"IN GOD WE TRUST"
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