Jordan purchases U.S. Navy’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System (APKWS)

The U.S. Marine Corps' AH-1W and UH-1Y Light/Attack helicopters fire the Advanced Precision Kill Weapons System in October 2012. (U.S. Navy photo)

The U.S. Navy signed an agreement with the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan April 14 for the first international sale of the Department’s Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS).The initial Foreign Military Sale (FMS) includes procurement of the weapons as well as logistics and engineering support for integration on the Jordanian CN-235 gunship."We look forward to delivering this combat-proven weapon system to the Jordanian Armed Forces," said Capt. Al Mousseau, Direct and Time Sensitive Strike program manager (PMA-242) at Patuxent River.  "International sales offer the opportunity to enhance combat capability for partner nations and are an effective means to support the U.S. industrial base."

APKWS modifies unguided 2.75-inch rockets with a semi-active laser guidance section to transform the rockets currently used in the Jordanian fleet into low-cost, precision guided munitions.Currently employed from U.S. Navy MH-60 Seahawk and Marine Corps UH/AH-1 Light Attack helicopters, APKWS has been successfully demonstrated from a variety of fixed wing platforms capable of firing the weapon in comparable flight regimes.The Navy and industry partner BAE Systems plan to deliver APKWS to the Jordanian Kingdom in 2016.


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