An AGM-158A JASSM cruise missile was spotted with an F/A-18 Hornet as part of the capability upgrades.
Naval News reported the first fitting of the cruise missile mainly intended against hardened targets on the USMC F/A-18 Hornet. A plan to modernise the stand-off attack capabilities of Hornet fighters with AGM-158A JASSM cruise missiles was announced in 2022.
The current stand-off attack weapon of the Hornet fighters is the AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER cruise missile derived from the Harpoon anti-ship missile with a folding wing kit and electro-optical seeker in place of the RF seeker.
AGM-158A has superiorities in warhead (450 kg penetrating versus 360 kg penetrating), range (370+ km versus 270 km), and, more importantly, low observability compared to the SLAM-ER missile.
A combination of GPS, INS, and IIR seeker guides the missile. AGM-158A was developed into AGM-158B JASSM-ER with an extended range of 926+ km, and the AGM-158C LRASM anti-ship missile with a new guidance section that includes passive RF receivers to detect radar emissions from warships before the IIR seeker starts working.
Despite F/A-18 Hornet being succeeded by the better-performing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet, it will remain in use for some time with capability upgrades.
