WHITE SANDS MISSILE RANGE, N.M., April 20, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) and The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA) fired the first Joint Air-to-Ground Missile during a test funded by the two companies.

The weapon, fired from a ground-based rotary-wing launcher, performed a series of preprogrammed maneuvers and flew to a predesignated location, validating the flight control software and Brimstone airframe. The mission met all primary test objectives.

“The Raytheon-Boeing JAGM is on track to demonstrate our low-risk entry into the engineering manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the program,” said Bob Francois, Raytheon vice president of Advanced Missiles and Unmanned Systems. “The missile uses existing technologies to provide the warfighter a cost-effective, low-risk and highly capable solution for destroying a wide range of stationary and moving targets in all weather conditions.”

The Raytheon-Boeing JAGM features proven components from other Raytheon and Boeing programs including the Raytheon GBU-53/B Small Diameter Bomb II and Boeing Brimstone.

“We had a successful flight of the control test vehicle and anticipate achieving additional milestones with a successful series of guided test vehicle missile firings as a culmination of our technology demonstration phase,” said Carl Avila, director of Boeing Advanced Weapons and Missile Systems. “Our system-solution approach to the JAGM program will carry forward into EMD, setting the stage for success. Boeing’s extensive experience integrating weapons on the F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet and AH-64D Apache Longbow combined with Raytheon’s proficiency in seeker design and integration make our JAGM the lowest-risk and lowest total-cost solution.”

Source: Raytheon