Raytheon has successfully produced and delivered the 2,000th AGM-176 Griffin air-to-ground missile to an undisclosed customer.
The missile is the Griffin Block III configuration featuring a new seeker for improved targeting performance, and a multi-effects warhead system that increases the missile’s operational effectiveness.
Having recently completed successful operational testing, the Griffin Block III is scheduled to be fielded with operational units in the coming months.
Raytheon Griffin programme director Steve Dickman said the Griffin programme rapidly develops and delivers affordable missiles that meet the warfighter’s requirements.
"This milestone highlights the highly collaborative partnership that exists between the company and its multiple service customers," Dickman said.
SOCOM Detachment 1 Stand-off Precision Guided Munitions programme manager US Air Force first lieutenant Ben Marshall said the Griffin missile has proven to be an effective way of doing business for special operations forces.
”The capability has steadily improved, where effectiveness and reliability rule the day," Marshall said.
Under development since 2008, the Griffin is an air- and ground-launched, precise, low-collateral-damage weapon developed for use in irregular warfare operations.
Equipped with a 13lb warhead, the missile has been designed to be launched from the ground or air as a rocket-powered missile or dropped from the air as a guided bomb, and has a proven track record for successful rapid integration on land, sea and air assets.
The missile has been developed in two variants, namely AGM-176A Griffin, an aft-eject missile intended for employment from C-130 aircraft, and a forward-firing Griffin BGM-176B missile that launches from rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, ground-launch applications and maritime platforms.
Installed on US Air Force AC-130W Stinger II, US Marine Corps KC-130J Harvest Hawk, and the US Navy’s Cyclone-class Patrol Coastal platforms, the missile has also been used by the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Image: An AGM-176 Griffin missile being launched from a ground-based tube. Photo: courtesy of the US Department of Defense.
