Shaw brings hammer to air-to-ground lethality

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman John Gordinier
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Shaw's 55th Fighter Squadron deployed Aug. 18 to Hill Air Force Base, Utah, to participate in exercise Combat Hammer, which started Monday.

One hundred twenty-three personnel including pilots, maintainers, weapons loaders, crew chiefs, operations support and life support technicians are taking part in this two-week operation where air-to-ground weapons are being dropped at the Utah Test and Training Range, said Lt. Col. David Hathaway, 55th FS commander.

"Combat Hammer is part of an evaluation program to validate our squadron training, weapons loaders, maintainers, aircraft systems and weapons," he said.

"We are employing more than $8.5 million in air-to-ground weapons including Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles, High Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, Joint Direct Attack Munitions, Sensor-Fused Weapons and Combined Effects Munitions," Col. Hathaway said. "All the weapons are employed in combat scenarios with both air-to-air and surface-to-air threats on the UTTR."

"This is also the first time for one-third of the pilots in the 55th FS to drop these bombs; it is a rare operation," said Lt. Col. Tom Littleton, 55th FS director of operations. "Pilots get about two of these types of deployments in their entire career."

Furthermore "first-times" aren't limited to individuals in Combat Hammer. The 55th FS is also pioneering as a unit.

"We are the first operational fighter squadron in the U.S. Air Force to train, become certified, and drop a JASSM," Col. Littleton said. "During Combat Hammer, two of our F-16s will drop a JASSM for the first time in history."

The 14-foot, 2,250-pound JASSM is an autonomous air-to-ground standoff missile, he said.

The weapon is designed to destroy high-value, well-defended fixed or relocatable targets from long range.

"Congressmen and several general officers will be there to watch the 55th FS make history," Col. Littleton said.

"It is probably one of the most highly publicized and scrutinized weapons employments over the last decade," he said.