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Analyst Note:
This image shows an American F/A-18 fighter aircraft armed with two AGM-154 Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) air-delivered bombs taking off to conduct strikes against Houthi forces in Yemen. The F/A-18 likely has two more AGM-154-series munitions carried on the opposite side of the aircraft, for a total of four bombs. The JSOW has multiple variants which are fitted with different warheads, including a submunition payload (AGM-154A and AGM-154B models), BLU-111 500-pound bomb (AGM-154A-1), and a Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge (BROACH) multi-stage penetrator warhead (AGM-154C or AGM-154C-1). All variants are externally identical without markings, with the exception that the AGM-154C and C-1 have a small reflective window on the bottom of the nose for the terminal infrared (IR) seeker. The munitions in the image are most likely AGM-154A-1 or AGM-154C-series bombs, due to the lack of reported submunitions following the strikes. (ARES)
Analyst Note:
This image shows an unexploded WDU-45/B, the second stage or penetrator warhead (also called a ‘follow-through’ warhead), of the Bomb Royal Ordnance Augmented Charge (BROACH) multi-stage warhead system used in the AGM-154C variant of the Joint Standoff Weapon (JSOW) air-delivered bomb. The first stage is a shaped-charge warhead designed help the second stage penetrate hardened targets before detonating. The Shadow/SCALP-EG missile also uses a multi-stage BROACH system, but with larger warheads. (ARES)