U.S. Navy tests new joint-air-to-ground missile on AH-1Z helicopter.

The U.S. Navy successfully completed its first Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) flight test on the AH-1Z helicopter Dec.5 at Patuxent River.

An AH-1Z Helicopter carrying the Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md. (U.S. Navy photo)

During the flight, aircrew aboard the AH-1Z navigated the missile through various operational modes and exercised its active seeker to search and/or acquire targets, demonstrating its compatibility with the aircraft.

"Initial results from the flight indicate the missile performed as planned,” said Liam Cosgrove, JAGM flight test lead. “We will continue to conduct a series of tests to prepare for live fire testing of the JAGM off the AH-1Z scheduled for early this year.”

JAGM, a joint program with the Army, is a precision-guided munition for use against high value stationary, moving, and relocatable land and maritime targets. It utilizes a multi-mode seeker to provide targeting day or night in adverse weather, battlefield obscured conditions and against a variety of countermeasures.

“This missile will provide increased lethality and better targeting capabilities, beyond the Hellfire’s laser point designating capability that the AH-1Z currently has in theater today,” said Capt. Mitch Commerford, Direct and Time Sensitive Strike (PMA-242) program manager.

JAGM is managed by the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, Redstone Arsenal, Alabama. It will initially be employed on the AH-64 Apache and Marine Corps’ AH-1Z helicopters and is compatible with any aircraft that can carry Hellfire missiles. The Army will will complete a 48 shot test matrix by May 2018 on AH-64 Apache aircraft in support of Milestone C.

An AH-1Z Helicopter carrying the Joint-Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) at Naval Air Station, Patuxent River, Md. (U.S. Navy photo)