Captain David Lee, an F-16C Fighting Falcon pilot from the 522nd Fighter Squadron "Fireballs", Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico, releases an AGM-154 Joint Stand-off Weapon (JSOW) air-to-ground guided weapon over the Utah Test and Training Range during a Combat Hammer mission. The mission was part of an Air-to-Ground Weapons System Evaluation Program (WSEP) misison commonly referred to as Combat Hammer hosted by the 86th Fighter Weapons Squadron from Eglin AFB, Florida. The JSOW is a long range, air-to-ground weapon that uses both inertial navigation and global positioning systems for guidance and is designed to attack a vareity of targets. The capabilities of the JSOW include employment in day, night and adverse weather conditions and enhances aircraft survivability by allowing launch aircraft to standoff outside the range of enemy defenses, interdict and destroy an enemy ground target. This was the first evaluation of the AGM-154 being relaesed from an F-16 during a Combat Hammer evaluation.
MSgt Michael Ammons  (US Air Force)
2004-05-19
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