I had no clue how big this beast was, it’s a monster and apparently fits in the internal bay of a JSF C-model. This is going to give the Navy a stealthy stand-off air-launched cruise missile. This is going to change a few things for the Pacific if the Navy can deep strike a target without going into an air defense envelope.
Makes me wonder how long it’ll be before our brothers and sisters in Australia using the Hornet will be asking, “Would you mind terribly if we have a few of those?”
It’s cool and everything but JSOW-ER? Remember the days when missiles had names like Harpoon and Tomahawk? Polaris, Posideon and Trident? Terrier, Talos and Tartar? Where has the romance gone? I weep for the future. 
Well give it a name then? How about hellpig, for it is big, and officially named a sow.
The romance of missile names? Interesting choice of words. 
I have always found sparrow a strange name for something meant to reach out and KO stuff.
It’s been decades and we still never gave the AMRAAM an official name, let alone the ALCMs.
However, when was the last time anyone used the official names for anything? Did ANYONE call the B-1 a Lancer? The F-16 a Fighting Falcon? Even the Hornet is just called a Bug, so I think the F-15 was the last plane whose bestowed name was actually used.
They’re working on a nickname though - how about this?
Mike.
AMRAAM’s are known as slammers AFAIK. The B-1 is a bone, the F-16 a viper, the eagle is an eagle, but the -E is a mudhen 
No nuclear warhead = no cool sounding name.
Do you want your JSOW to be nicknamed “Pipsqueak” or “Noisy Cricket”? I think not.
Mike? How about Nitro?
Actually the Hornet isn’t called the Bug in the Fleet. Maybe its because when calling the ball you use the aircraft’s official name–“Hornet ball, 2.5” or “Hawkeye ball, 3.1”
That said, the FA-18E is referred to as a Rhino on the carrier - “Rhino ball 4.2”…probably because Super Hornet would be too long.
Yeah, that’s official stuff. But very few have their formal names used informally as well. Calling a 117 a Nighthawk? An A-10 a Thunderbolt?
In other words, what is the point of giving them official names anyway? The designations seem more than sufficient until the ones that actually use them hang their “callsigns” onto them. The official names more often than not seem a waste of time and effort.
How did it get that particular nickname?
To be fair, that one was actually “Thunderbolt II” since it was a sort of follow-on to the P-47 “Thunderbolt.”
I think the naming schemes are more per tradition than mandatory. I recall the F-16 got the name “Fighting Falcon” over a vote they did at the USAF academy.
Aty this point in the game, why havent we just decided to pack drones with explosive and Kamikaze them into stuff, Kinda the ultimate JSOW, Some dude in Vegas steering a “bomb” into a cave in Afghanistan.
That’s kinda what most weapons are nowadays. Not exactly a cheap price tag on a lot of them either…
That gets expensive fast. Cheaper to arm these things and loiter over a battlefield and drop at will. Refuel, rinse, repeat.
We have. They are called Tomahawks. 
