The Mark 143 Armored Box Launcher (ABL) is a four-round protected launch container for the
BGM-109 Tomahawk
The Tomahawk () Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations.
Under contract f ...
Cruise Missile.
Fitted to the following their 1980s recommissioning upgrade, each ABL contains four ready-to-fire Tomahawks. The use of ABLs on these vessels rather than a non-armored solution was necessitated to enable the battleships to continue to exploit the capability provided by their heavy armor and reduce the vulnerability of the delicate missiles within. Eight ABLs were fitted to each of the four recommissioned battleships, providing 32 weapons to each ship. Some of the original dual 5 inch (127 mm) gun mounts were removed to fit the ABLs.
As well as being fitted on to the
United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
s ''Iowa''-class battleships, this system was also fitted on the nuclear-powered cruisers, including the and the as well as some {{sclass, Spruance, destroyer, 4. The cruisers and destroyers were fitted with two ABLs each for a total of 8 missiles.
Since then the Armored Box Launcher missile system has been phased out in favor of the more flexible, larger capacity
Vertical Launching System (VLS).
The Armored Box Launcher shares one common handicap with the Vertical Launching System: It can not be reloaded at sea. The ship must return to port in order to receive and load her ABLs.
Naval weapons of the United States