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Tomahawk Cruise Missile

Long range, subsonic cruise missile used for land attack warfare, launched from surface ships and submarines.

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History

Tomahawk cruise missiles are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds, and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission tailored guidance systems. The first operational use was in Operation Desert Storm, 1991. The missile has since been successfully used in several other conflicts. In 1995 the governments of the United States and United Kingdom signed a Foreign Military Sales Agreement for the acquisition of 65 missiles, marking the first sale of Tomahawk to a foreign country. After a November 1998 launch and live warhead test, the U.K. declared operational capability.

Description

Tomahawk Block II uses a Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) missile guidance system. Block III adds a Global Positioning Satellite guidance capability to TERCOM and DSMAC. Radar detection of the missile is extremely difficult because of the small radar cross-section and low altitude. Tomahawk has two warhead configurations: a 1,000-pound blast/fragmentary unitary warhead and a general-purpose submunition dispenser with combined effect bomblets.

The capabilities of the future Tomahawk, Block IV or Tactical Tomahawk, will include battle damage assessment, in flight retargeting, and mission planning from the launch platform. It is projected to enter service in 2003.