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B-52 releases JASSM from internal bay
Success marks
another ‘first-ever’
for AFTC
by Christopher Ball
Edwards AFB, Calif.
The personnel of Edwards Air Force Base, Ca- Air Force photograph by Christian Turner
lif., accomplished another first recently by ex-
ecuting a clean separation of three Joint Attack A B-52 releases a Joint Attack Surface Standoff Missile from internal weapons bay at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. This is the first time the JASSM
Surface Standoff Missiles, or JASSMs, from the has separated from the Conventional Rotary Launcher in the internal bay of the bomber. The test was the first phase of validation for the CLR.
internal weapons bay of a B-52 Stratofortress at
the base. also a weapons integration engineer with the 775th. JASSM. The next step is the the Miniature Air clude more of the same testing, but with the ad-
“For long range operations, this means less Launch Decoy (MALD).†dition of live weapons. And the third phase will
The aircraft has long been capable of carry- validate the CLR system’s full capability.
ing JASSMs on its wing pylons, but this is the drag. The aircraft can fly further and faster and Earl Johnson, the test project manager, said
first time they have been successfully released still return to base after the mission,†Estrada this separation test was part of the first of three The JASSM is a long-range, conventional,
from Conventional Rotary Launcher in the in- said. phases, and primarily focused on data collec- air-to-ground, precision standoff missile for the
ternal bay. tion. “We accomplished fit checks, making sure U.S. and allied forces. According to Lockheed
Although the release of missiles was the the weapons had clearance, within the weapons Martin, the weapon’s producer, it is designed
“That was a first-ever for the B-52, and is also milestone, the missiles weren’t the main focus bay, while rotating on the CRL, demonstrated to destroy high-value, well-defended, fixed and
going to be another amazing enhancement in of the testing, Estrada said. a clean separation of the weapon in flight, and relocatable targets, while JASSM’s significant
B-52 combat capability for Global Strike,†said made sure everything was done safely,†he said. standoff range keeps aircrews well out of danger
Brig. Gen. Carl Schaefer, 412th Test Wing com- “The CRL is really what we’re looking at. from hostile air defense systems.
mander, who flew the F-16 photo chase plane for We’ve already validated the Joint Directed At- The next phase—the interim phase—will in-
the JASSM mission. “I got to chase the first-ever tack Munition (JDAM), now we’re working the
JASSM drop from the internal weapons bay of
the B-52. We dropped it right here on the range
at Edwards.â€
The venerable bomber could carry up to 12
JASSMs on its wing pylons, said Jose Estrada,
a weapons integration engineer with the 775th
Test Squadron. Integration of CRL in internal
weapons bay adds a capability of carrying eight
more missiles in the aircraft, increasing the B-52s
JASSM payload by more than 60 percent.
The previous, or legacy, launcher used in the
B-52 internal bay was the Common Strategic Ro-
tary Launcher. This launcher was only capable of
carrying unguided munitions, or “dumb bombs.â€
Another advantage to carrying weapons inter-
nally was that less drag is created on the aircraft
which increases fuel efficiency, said Brian Pinto,
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