The Tomahawk cruise missile is the U.S. Navy surface and submarine launched, precision strike standoff weapon. It is the nation's weapon of choice for critical, long range, precision strike missions against high value, heavily defended targets. Tomahawk is a highly survivable weapon. Radar detection is difficult because of the missile's small radar cross-section and low altitude flight. For endgame flexibility and lethality, Tomahawk has two warhead configurations: a 1000 lbs blast/fragmentary unitary warhead and a general purpose submunition dispenser with Combined Effect Bomblets (CEBs).
After launch, a solid propellant rocket motor accelerates the missile until a turbofan engine takes over for the cruise portion of the flight. Midcourse guidance configurations include:
*Block II - Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) guidance.
*Block III - Adds a Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance capability to the existing TERCOM and DSMAC guidance.
The introduction of GPS dramatically reduced the mission planning timeline and provided an option for GPS only missions. The U.S. Navy has modified an existing contract with Raytheon Systems Company for the remanufacture of up to 624 Tomahawk cruise missiles to the latest Block III configuration. Work will be done principally at the Raytheon Missile Systems business unit in Tucson, Ariz., and is expected to be complete in October 2002.
While maintaining its Deep Strike Capability, Tomahawk continues to evolve to meet the warfighters' needs for a more flexible and "tactical" precision strike weapon. In June 1998, Raytheon was awarded a $256 million cost-plus, fixed-fee contract for engineering and manufacturing development (E&MD) of a more versatile, lower cost version of Tomahawk, designated the Tactical Tomahawk. The award includes firm pricing for 1,343 missiles over five years, valued at nearly $800 million in fiscal 1999 dollars, with additional production potential beyond that time period. E&MD is expected to be complete in 2002 with production beginning in 2003. The future Tactical Tomahawk weapon system will include battle damage indication, in flight retargeting, loitering capability and mission planning from the launch platform. With these added capabilities, Tactical Tomahawk will carry on the superior tradition of its predecessors into the 21st century.
Tomahawk has played a crucial role in several theater operations including: Operation Desert Storm, Bosnia, Iraq and Kosovo. Over 300 Tomahawks were used in Operation Desert Storm alone. Since Desert Storm in 1991, more than 1,000 Tomahawks have been fired with a high degree of accuracy.
Technical data
Length: 18 ft 3 in
Diameter: 20.4 in
Weight: 2,900 lbs
Wing Span: 8 ft 9 in
Range: 1,000 statute miles
Speed: 550 mph
Guidance: - TERCOM - DSMAC - GPS (Block III only)
Warheads: - 1,000 lbs blast/frag - Dispenser with CEBs
