The U.S. Army’s Joint Common Missile program will provide the armed forces with the ability to act first and reach farther than the current generation of weapons.

The next generation multi-purpose missile will be launched from selected Army, Marine, Navy and United Kingdom rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. It is designed to defeat armor, bunkers, small ships and other targets. The new weapon will play a key role in the Army’s Future Force while enhancing the performance of existing aircraft by replacing the aging and depleting stockpiles of Hellfire and Maverick missiles.

“Boeing and its teammate Northrop Grumman are capable of providing a complete, affordable solution for the U.S. Army,” said Roger Krone, senior vice president, Boeing Army Systems. “It allows us to offer the customer an experienced team with an outstanding track record of performance in weapons programs.”

Boeing is combining its large-scale systems integration capability, including missile systems and aircraft, with Northrop Grumman’s leadership in producing seeker and sensor technology. Boeing is leveraging its AH-64 Apache, RAH-66 Comanche and F/A-18 Hornet experience with that of its missile programs. Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems sector brings multi-mode sensors/seekers experience from the Eagle Eyes submunition, Longbow missile and Comanche Automatic Target Recognition to provide the seeker.

The Joint Common Missile team is competing for a single award to design and build about 80,000 missiles.

“The program’s primary focus is on developing a common rotary and fixed-wing aviation weapon,” said R.A. “Tony” Brooks, Joint Common Missile program manager.

“Potential applications to ground platforms, including Future Combat Systems, remain a secondary consideration. The U.S. Air Force has a potential future requirement for a similar system, but is currently not participating.”

A prototype seeker was successfully tested earlier this year, including captive carry flights using a fixed-wing aircraft to fly flight profiles.

“This program is the first in the Department of Defense to go through the Joint Capabilities Integration and Development System process. JCIDS supports the Department of Defense’s aim of providing interoperable, joint capabilities that best satisfy the needs of future warfighters,” Brooks said.