This one has always confused me. It is a good read on the status of the JASSM program. You see, if some of the test missiles were only 200 feet off target, why didn’t the scene matching imager in the nose that is used in terminal phase, pick up the slack? Yet many faults were claimed to have been caused by “GPS drop-out”. Also interesting because INS kits for the day are pretty good and only need routine and not continuous GPS updating.
In test flights during April and May 2007, the program experienced four of four test failures, producing an overall missile reliability rate of less than 60 percent. During tests on 30 April and 01 May 2007, three of the missiles missed by up to 200 feet, and a fourth failed to detonate on impact, a repeat of a previously-experienced fuze failure. Developers blamed the misses on “GPS dropout” that compromised the missile’s navigation system. The GPS receiver works with a very weak signal from fast-moving distant satellites, and some such dropouts are unavoidable. GPS dropout conditions may occur because of moving into an area with terrain blockage. At times there may be interference from other radio sources or even sunspot activity. When a GPS dropout does occur, navigation systems can give bad track. Following a GPS dropout, a receiver can require several seconds for reacquisition lock.
The program office developed a plan to solve the reliability problems by: (1) implementing a software change to the GPS receiver, (2) correcting a design flaw by moving a cable associated with the weapon’s anti-spoofing capability farther away from the engine, and (3) reworking the software code for a key data processor. The program office planned a minimum of nine ground tests in late 2007 and early 2008 as well as a 16-shot test-flight program in the February through mid-March 2008 time frame. These tests were expected to verify the planned improvements to JASSM’s reliability. The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics would evaluate the test results.
Following the test failures, the Air Force officially halted procurement of JASSM missiles in July 2007. No additional procurement would occur until the reliability improvements had been demonstrated. Of the 942 missiles on contract as of March 2008 (Lots 1-6) from the total planned buy of 4,900 baseline and ER variants, 611 have been delivered. According to program officials, if the planned tests validated JASSM’s reliability, the Air Force expected to restart procurement by renegotiating the Lot 7 buy.
The Government Accountability Office reported in a March 2008 assessment that the JASSM design was still not stable. The program office was not acquiring drawings, a measure of design stability, because the contractor had Total System Performance Responsibility wherein, according to program officials, the contractor guarantees the missile performance. Component problems supplied by sub-contractors include the missile’s electrical systems, warhead, and power system, as well as its guidance kit and engine components.
Warts and all, like Obi-won, it may be our only hope in the coming years—because of not enough F-22s—to hit important targets that are well defended by modern integrated air defenses. It is gold plated—as opposed to its “affordable” marketing spin—and the target better be worth the cost. This weapon is important in other ways because it can be carried by our long range bombers and get somewhere quicker than a Navy ship or sub with Tomahawk. While there is all of the this-waritis waste in the FY2010 and FY2011 budgets, there is a healthy amount of spending on this weapon. It will be a crutch for the USAF when no other resource is available in the coming years.
