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
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 ...
and
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
in ship and submarine-based land-attack operations.
Under contract from the U.S. Navy, the Tomahawk was designed at the
APL/
JHU in a project led by James Walker near Laurel, Maryland, and was first manufactured by
General Dynamics in the 1970s. It was intended to fill the role of a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a naval surface warfare platform, and featured a modular design accommodating a wide variety of
warhead
A warhead is the forward section of a device that contains the explosive agent or toxic (biological, chemical, or nuclear) material that is delivered by a missile, rocket, torpedo, or bomb.
Classification
Types of warheads include:
* Expl ...
, guidance, and range capabilities. At least six variants and multiple upgraded versions of the TLAM have been added since the original design was introduced, including air-, sub-, and ground-launched variants with conventional and nuclear armaments. In 1992–1994, McDonnell Douglas Corporation was the sole supplier of Tomahawk Missiles and produced Block II and Block III Tomahawk missiles and remanufactured many Tomahawks to Block III specifications. In 1994, Hughes outbid McDonnell Douglas Aerospace to become the sole supplier of Tomahawk missiles. By 2019, the only variants in service were non-nuclear, sea-launched variants manufactured by
Raytheon
Raytheon Technologies Corporation is an American multinational aerospace and defense conglomerate headquartered in Arlington, Virginia. It is one of the largest aerospace and defense manufacturers in the world by revenue and market capitali ...
. In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense purchased 149 Tomahawk Block IV missiles for $202.3 million.
The Tomahawk was most recently used by the U.S. Navy in the
2018 missile strikes against Syria, when 66 missiles were launched targeting alleged Syrian chemical weapons facilities.
Variants
The variants and multiple upgrades to the missile include:
* BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile – Nuclear (TLAM-N) with a
W80 nuclear warhead. Retired from service sometime between 2010 and 2013.
Reports from early 2018 state that the U.S. Navy is considering reintroducing a (yet unknown type of) nuclear-armed cruise missile into service.
* RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk
Anti-Ship Missile
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...
(TASM) –
active radar homing anti-ship missile
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A goo ...
variant; withdrawn from service in 1994 and converted to Block IV version.
* BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile – Conventional (TLAM-C) with a unitary warhead. This was initially a modified
Bullpup warhead.
* BGM-109D Tomahawk Land Attack Missile – Dispenser (TLAM-D) with
cluster munitions.
** ''Kit 2'' Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - with a
unique warhead used to disable
electrical grids. First used in the
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
.
* RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM-E Block IV) – improved version of the TLAM-C.
*
BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) – with a
W84 nuclear warhead; withdrawn from service in 1991 to comply with the
INF Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ ...
.
* AGM-109H/L Medium Range Air-to-Surface Missile (MRASM) – a shorter-range,
turbojet
The turbojet is an airbreathing jet engine which is typically used in aircraft. It consists of a gas turbine with a propelling nozzle. The gas turbine has an air inlet which includes inlet guide vanes, a compressor, a combustion chamber, an ...
powered
air-launched cruise missile
An air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a military aircraft. Current versions are typically standoff weapons which are used to attack predetermined land targets with conventional, nuclear or thermonuclear ...
with
cluster munitions; never entered service, cost 569,000 (1999).
Ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCM) and their truck-like launch vehicles were employed at bases in Europe; they were withdrawn from service to comply with the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ ...
.
Many of the anti-ship versions were converted into TLAMs at the end of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
.
The Block III TLAMs that entered service in 1993 can fly 3 percent farther using their new
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engines
and use
Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
(GPS) receivers to strike more precisely.
Block III TLAM-Cs retain the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) II navigation system, allowing three kinds of navigation: GPS-only, which allow for rapid mission planning, with some reduced accuracy, DSMAC-only, which take longer to plan but terminal accuracy is somewhat better; and GPS-aided missions that combine DSMAC II and GPS navigation for greatest accuracy.
Block IV TLAMs have an improved
turbofan
The turbofan or fanjet is a type of airbreathing jet engine that is widely used in aircraft propulsion. The word "turbofan" is a portmanteau of "turbine" and "fan": the ''turbo'' portion refers to a gas turbine engine which achieves mechanic ...
engine that allows them to get better fuel economy and change speeds in flight.
The Block IV TLAMs can loiter better and have electro-optical sensors that allow real-time battle damage assessment.
The Block IVs can be given a new target in flight and can transmit an image, via
satcom, immediately before impact to help determine whether the missile is on target and the likely damage from the attack.
Upgrades
![UGM-109 hits target on San Clemente Island 1986](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c1/UGM-109_hits_target_on_San_Clemente_Island_1986.JPEG)
A major improvement to the Tomahawk is
network-centric warfare
Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantag ...
-capabilities, using data from multiple sensors (aircraft,
UAVs
An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft without any human pilot, crew, or passengers on board. UAVs are a component of an unmanned aircraft system (UAS), which includes adding a ground-based controlle ...
, satellites, foot soldiers, tanks, ships) to find its target. It will also be able to send data from its sensors to these platforms.
''Tomahawk Block II'' variants were all tested during January 1981 to October 1983. Deployed in 1984, some of the improvements included: an improved booster rocket, cruise missile radar altimeter, and navigation through the Digital Scene Matching Area Corellator (DSMAC).
DSMAC was a highly accurate rudimentary AI which allowed early low power computers to navigate and precisely target objectives using cameras on board the missile. With its ability to visually identify and aim directly at a target, it was more accurate than weapons using estimated GPS coordinates. Due to the very limited computer power of the day, DSMAC did not directly evaluate the maps, but instead would compute contrast maps and then combine multiple maps into a buffer, then compare the average of those combined images to determine if it was similar to the data in its small memory system. The data for the flight path was very low resolution in order to free up memory to be used for high resolution data about the target area. The guidance data was computed by a mainframe computer which took spy satellite photos and estimated what the terrain would appear like during low level flight. Since this data would not match the real terrain exactly, and since terrain changes seasonally and with changes in light quality, DSMAC would filter out differences between maps and use the remaining similar sections in order to find its location regardless of changes in how the ground appeared. It also had an extremely bright strobe light it could use to illuminate the ground for fractions of a second in order to find its position at night, and was able to take the difference in ground appearance into account.
''Tomahawk Block III'' introduced in 1993 added time-of-arrival control and improved accuracy for Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) and jam-resistant
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
, smaller, lighter WDU-36 warhead, engine improvements and extended missile's range.
''Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS)'' takes advantage of a loitering feature in the missile's flight path and allows commanders to redirect the missile to an alternative target, if required. It can be reprogrammed in-flight to attack predesignated targets with GPS coordinates stored in its memory or to any other GPS coordinates. Also, the missile can send data about its status back to the commander. It entered service with the US Navy in late 2004. The Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS) added the capability for limited mission planning on board the firing unit (FRU).
''Tomahawk Block IV'' introduced in 2006 adds the strike controller which can change the missile in flight to one of 15 preprogrammed alternate targets or redirect it to a new target. This targeting flexibility includes the capability to loiter over the battlefield awaiting a more critical target. The missile can also transmit battle damage indication imagery and missile health and status messages via the two-way satellite data link. Firing platforms now have the capability to plan and execute GPS-only missions. Block IV also has an improved anti-jam GPS receiver for enhanced mission performance.
Block IV includes Tomahawk Weapons Control System (TTWCS), and Tomahawk Command and Control System (TC2S).
On 16 August 2010, the Navy completed the first live test of the Joint Multi-Effects Warhead System (JMEWS), a new warhead designed to give the Tomahawk the same blast-fragmentation capabilities while introducing enhanced penetration capabilities in a single warhead. In the static test, the warhead detonated and created a hole large enough for the follow-through element to completely penetrate the concrete target. In February 2014,
U.S. Central Command
The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...
sponsored development and testing of the JMEWS, analyzing the ability of the programmable warhead to integrate onto the Block IV Tomahawk, giving the missile
bunker buster
A bunker buster is a type of munition that is designed to penetrate hardened targets or targets buried deep underground, such as military bunkers.
Armor piercing shells
Germany
Röchling shells were bunker-busting artillery shells, developed ...
effects to better penetrate hardened structures.
[Navy Wants Its Tomahawks to Bust More Bunkers](_blank)
- Defensetech.org, 14 February 2014
In 2012, the USN studied applying
Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) technology into the Tactical Tomahawk.
In 2014, Raytheon began testing Block IV improvements to attack sea and moving land targets. The new
passive radar
Passive radar systems (also referred to as passive coherent location, passive surveillance systems, and passive covert radar) encompass a class of radar systems that detect and track objects by processing reflections from non-cooperative sources of ...
seeker will pick up the electromagnetic
radar signature
Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, Marine radar, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor v ...
of a target and follow it, and actively send out a signal to bounce off potential targets before impact to discriminate its legitimacy before impact.
Mounting the multi-mode sensor on the missile's nose would remove fuel space, but company officials believe the Navy would be willing to give up space for the sensor's new technologies.
[Facing End of Tomahawk Production, Raytheon Plays Industrial Base Card](_blank)
- Nationaldefensemagazine.org, 2 April 2014 The previous Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile, retired over a decade earlier, was equipped with inertial guidance and the seeker of the
Harpoon missile
The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile
manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) and later AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack ...
and there was concern with its ability to clearly discriminate between targets from a long distance, since at the time Navy sensors did not have as much range as the missile itself, which would be more reliable with the new seeker's passive detection and
millimeter-wave
Extremely high frequency (EHF) is the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) designation for the band of radio frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum from 30 to 300 gigahertz (GHz). It lies between the super high frequency band and the ...
active radar homing. Raytheon estimates adding the new seeker would cost $250,000 per missile. Other upgrades include a
sea-skimming
Sea skimming is a technique many anti-ship missiles and some fighter or strike aircraft use to avoid radar, infrared detection, and to lower probability of being shot down during their approach to the target.
Method
Sea-skimming anti-ship missi ...
flight path. The first Block IV TLAMs modified with a maritime attack capability will enter service in 2021.
A supersonic version of the Tomahawk is under consideration for development with a
ramjet
A ramjet, or athodyd (aero thermodynamic duct), is a form of airbreathing jet engine that uses the forward motion of the engine to produce thrust. Since it produces no thrust when stationary (no ram air) ramjet-powered vehicles require an as ...
to increase its speed to Mach 3. A limiting factor to this is the dimensions of shipboard launch tubes. Instead of modifying every ship able to carry cruise missiles, the ramjet-powered Tomahawk would still have to fit within a -diameter and -long tube.
In October 2015, Raytheon announced the Tomahawk had demonstrated new capabilities in a test launch, using its onboard camera to take a reconnaissance photo and transmit it to fleet headquarters. It then entered a loitering pattern until given new targeting coordinates to strike.
By January 2016,
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy (DOE), located a short distance northwest of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ...
was working on a project to turn unburned fuel left over when a Tomahawk reaches its target into an additional explosive force. To do this, the missile's
JP-10 fuel is turned into a
fuel air explosive
A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...
to combine with oxygen in the air and burn rapidly. The
thermobaric
A thermobaric weapon, also called an aerosol bomb, a vacuum bomb or a fuel air explosive (FAE), is a type of explosive that uses oxygen from the surrounding air to generate a high-temperature explosion. The fuel–air explosive is one of the be ...
explosion of the burning fuel acts, in effect, as an additional warhead and can even be more powerful than the main warhead itself when there is sufficient fuel left in the case of a short-range target.
Tomahawk Block V was introduced in 2021 with improvements to navigation and in-flight targeting. Block Va, the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) which allows the missile to engage a moving target at sea, and Block Vb outfitted with the JMEWS warhead for hard-target penetration, will be released after the initial batch of Block V is delivered in March 2021.
All Block IV Tomahawks will be converted to Block V standard, while the remaining Block III missiles will be retired and demilitarized.
Tomahawk Block V have longer range and dynamic targeting with the capability to hit vessels at sea (maritime strike role). Raytheon is recertifying and modernizing the missile, extending its service life by 15 years, and resulting in the new Tomahawk Block V series:
* Block V: A modernized TACTOM with upgraded navigation and communication
* Block VA: Block V that can strike moving targets at sea
* Block VB: Block V, with a joint multi-effects warhead that can hit more diverse land targets.
In 2020, Los Alamos National Laboratory reported that it would use
corn ethanol to produce domestic fuel for Tomahawk missiles, which also does not require harsh acids to manufacture, compared to petroleum-based JP-10.
Launch systems
Each missile is stored and launched from a pressurized canister that protects it during transportation and storage, and also serves as a launch tube. These canisters were racked in
Armored Box Launcher
The Mark 143 Armored Box Launcher (ABL) is a four-round protected launch container for the BGM-109 Tomahawk Cruise Missile.
Fitted to the following their 1980s recommissioning upgrade, each ABL contains four ready-to-fire Tomahawks. The use of ...
s (ABL), which were installed on the four reactivated ''Iowa''-class battleships , , , and . The ABLs were also installed on eight s, the four s, and the nuclear cruiser . These canisters are also in
vertical launching system
A vertical launching system (VLS) is an advanced system for holding and firing missiles on mobile naval platforms, such as surface ships and submarines. Each vertical launch system consists of a number of ''cells'', which can hold one or mor ...
s (VLS) in other surface ships, capsule launch systems (CLS) in the later and s, and in submarines'
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s.
All ABL equipped ships have been decommissioned.
For submarine-launched missiles (called UGM-109s), after being ejected by gas pressure (vertically via the VLS) or by water impulse (horizontally via the torpedo tube), a
solid-fuel booster is ignited to propel the missile and guide it out of the water.
After achieving flight, the missile's wings are unfolded for lift, the airscoop is exposed and the turbofan engine is employed for
cruise flight
Cruise is the phase of aircraft flight that starts when the aircraft levels off after a climb, until it begins to descend for landing. Cruising usually consumes the majority of a flight, and it may include changes in heading (direction of flight ...
. Over water, the Tomahawk uses
inertial guidance
An inertial navigation system (INS) is a navigation device that uses motion sensors ( accelerometers), rotation sensors ( gyroscopes) and a computer to continuously calculate by dead reckoning the position, the orientation, and the velocity ...
or GPS to follow a preset course; once over land, the missile's guidance system is aided by
terrain contour matching (TERCOM). Terminal guidance is provided by the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (
DSMAC
Terrain contour matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a pre-recorded contour map of the terrain that is compared with measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM syste ...
) system or
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
, producing a claimed
circular error probable of about 10 meters.
The Tomahawk Weapon System consists of the missile, Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC)/Afloat Planning System, and either the Tomahawk Weapon Control System (on surface ships) or Combat Control System (for submarines).
Several versions of control systems have been used, including:
* v2 TWCS – Tomahawk Weapon Control System (1983), also known as "green screens," was based on an old tank computing system.
* v3 ATWCS – Advanced Tomahawk Weapon Control System (1994), first Commercial Off the Shelf, uses
HP-UX.
* v4 TTWCS – Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System, (2003).
* v5 TTWCS – Next Generation Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System. (2006)
On August 18, 2019, the United States Navy conducted a test flight of a Tomahawk missile launched from a ground-based version of the
Mark 41 Vertical Launch System
The Mark 41 Vertical Launching System (Mk 41 VLS) is a shipborne missile canister launching system which provides a rapid-fire launch capability against hostile threats. The Vertical Launch System (VLS) concept was derived from work on the Aegis Co ...
. It was the United States' first acknowledged launch of a missile that would have violated the 1987
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty, formally the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles; / ДРСМ ...
, from which the Trump administration withdrew on August 2 after Russia broke it.
File:USN Tactical Tomahawk launch.jpg, Launch of a Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile from
File:Missouri missile BGM-109 Tomahawk.JPG, Battleship launching a Tomahawk missile
File:US Navy 030114-N-XXXXX-001 USS Florida launches a Tomahawk cruise missile during Giant Shadow in the waters off the coast of the Bahamas.jpg, Submarine launch from
File:US Navy 030327-N-9964S-519 The guided missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG 81) launches a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) toward Iraq.jpg, Launch trajectory from an
Munitions
The TLAM-D contains 166
sub-munitions in 24 canisters: 22 canisters of seven each, and two canisters of six each to conform to the dimensions of the airframe. The sub-munitions are the same type of Combined Effects Munition bomblet used in large quantities by the U.S. Air Force with the
CBU-87 Combined Effects Munition. The sub-munitions canisters are dispensed two at a time, one per side. The missile can perform up to five separate target segments which enables it to attack multiple targets. However, in order to achieve a sufficient density of coverage typically all 24 canisters are dispensed sequentially from back to front.
Navigation
TERCOM
Terrain contour matching, or TERCOM, is a navigation system used primarily by cruise missiles. It uses a pre-recorded contour map of the terrain that is compared with measurements made during flight by an on-board radar altimeter. A TERCOM system ...
– Terrain Contour Matching. A digital representation of an area of terrain is mapped based on digital terrain elevation data or stereo imagery. This map is then inserted into a TLAM mission which is then loaded onto the missile. When the missile is in flight it compares the stored map data with radar altimeter data collected as the missile overflies the map. Based on comparison results the missile's inertial navigation system is updated and the missile corrects its course. TERCOM was based on, and was a significant improvement on, "Fingerprint," a technology developed in 1964 for the
SLAM
Slam, SLAM or SLAMS may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional elements
* S.L.A.M. (Strategic Long-Range Artillery Machine), a fictional weapon in the ''G.I. Joe'' universe
* SLAMS (Space-Land-Air Missile Shield), a fictional anti-ball ...
.
DSMAC – Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation. A digitized image of an area is mapped and then inserted into a TLAM mission. During the flight the missile will verify that the images that it has stored correlates with the image it sees below itself. Based on comparison results the missile's inertial navigation system is updated and the missile corrects its course.
Operational history
United States Navy
In the 1991
Gulf War
The Gulf War was a 1990–1991 armed campaign waged by a Coalition of the Gulf War, 35-country military coalition in response to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition's efforts against Ba'athist Iraq, ...
, 288 Tomahawks were launched, 12 from submarines and 276 from surface ships. The first salvo was fired by the destroyer on January 17, 1991. The attack submarines and followed.
On 17 January 1993,
46 Tomahawks were fired at the Zafraniyah Nuclear Fabrication Facility outside
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
, in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UN disarmament inspectors. One missile crashed into the side of the
Al Rasheed Hotel
The Royal Tulip Al Rasheed Hotel (sometimes spelled ''Al-Rashid'') (Arabic, ) is an 18-storey hotel in Baghdad, Iraq, often visited by journalists and media personnel due to its location within Baghdad's Green Zone. It is named after the eighth ...
, killing two civilians.
On 26 June 1993,
23 Tomahawks were fired at the Iraqi Intelligence Service's command and control center.
On 10 September 1995, launched 13 Tomahawk missiles from the central Adriatic Sea against a key air defense radio relay tower in Bosnian Serb territory during
Operation Deliberate Force
Operation Deliberate Force was a sustained air campaign conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), in concert with the United Nations Protection Force (UNPROFOR) ground operations, to undermine the military capability of the ...
.
On 3 September 1996, 44 ship-launched UGM-109 and B-52-launched AGM-86 cruise missiles
were fired at air defense targets in southern Iraq.
On 20 August 1998,
79 Tomahawk missiles were fired simultaneously at two targets in Afghanistan and Sudan in retaliation for the
bombings of American embassies by
Al-Qaeda.
On 16 December 1998, 325 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets during
Operation Desert Fox
The 1998 bombing of Iraq (code-named Operation Desert Fox) was a major four-day bombing campaign on Iraqi targets from 16 to 19 December 1998, by the United States and the United Kingdom. On 16 December 1998, President of the United States Bill ...
.
In early 1999, 218 Tomahawk missiles were fired by U.S. ships and a British submarine during the
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia against targets in the
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
Serbia and Montenegro ( sr, Cрбија и Црна Гора, translit=Srbija i Crna Gora) was a country in Southeast Europe located in the Balkans that existed from 1992 to 2006, following the breakup of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yu ...
.
In October 2001, about 50 Tomahawk missiles struck targets in Afghanistan in the opening hours of
Operation Enduring Freedom.
During the
2003 invasion of Iraq, more than 802 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets.
On 3 March 2008, two Tomahawk missiles were fired at a target in Somalia by a US vessel during the
Dobley airstrike
At 3:25 a.m. on 3 March 2008, two BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missiles launched by a United States Navy warship hit the village of Dobley in Somalia. According to US military officials the target of the attack was an al-Qaeda leader. Dobley ...
, reportedly in an attempt to kill
Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan
) (4 April 1979, Mombasa, Kenya – 14 September 2009, near Baraawe, Somalia) was the leader of al-Qaeda in Somalia. He was listed on the FBI's third major "wanted" list, the FBI Seeking Information – War on Terrorism list, for his associati ...
, an al Qaeda militant.
On 17 December 2009, two Tomahawk missiles were fired at targets in Yemen. One TLAM-D struck an alleged
Al-Qaeda training camp in
al-Ma’jalah in al-Mahfad, a region of the Abyan governorate of
Yemen
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
. Amnesty International reported that 55 people were killed in the attack, including 41 civilians (21 children, 14 women, and six men). The US and Yemen governments refused to confirm or deny involvement, but diplomatic cables released as part of
United States diplomatic cables leak
The United States diplomatic cables leak, widely known as Cablegate, began on Sunday, 28 November 2010 when WikiLeaks began releasing classified cables that had been sent to the U.S. State Department by 274 of its consulates, embassies, and d ...
later confirmed the missile was fired by a U.S. Navy ship.
On 19 March 2011, 124 Tomahawk missiles
were fired by U.S. and British forces (112 US, 12 British) against at least 20
Libya
Libya (; ar, ليبيا, Lībiyā), officially the State of Libya ( ar, دولة ليبيا, Dawlat Lībiyā), is a country in the Maghreb region in North Africa. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Suda ...
n targets around
Tripoli
Tripoli or Tripolis may refer to:
Cities and other geographic units Greece
*Tripoli, Greece, the capital of Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (region of Arcadia), a district in ancient Arcadia, Greece
* Tripolis (Larisaia), an ancient Greek city in ...
and
Misrata. As of 22 March 2011, 159 UGM-109 were fired by US and UK ships against Libyan targets.
On 23 September 2014, 47 Tomahawk missiles
were fired by the United States from and , which were operating from international waters in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, against
ISIL
An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ...
targets in Syria in the vicinity of
Raqqa
Raqqa ( ar, ٱلرَّقَّة, ar-Raqqah, also and ) (Kurdish: Reqa/ ڕەقە) is a city in Syria on the northeast bank of the Euphrates River, about east of Aleppo. It is located east of the Tabqa Dam, Syria's largest dam. The Hellenistic, ...
, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Abu Kamal, and against
Khorasan group
The Khorasan group, sometimes known simply as Khorasan, is an alleged group of senior al-Qaeda members operating in Syria. The group is reported to consist of a small number of fighters who are all on terrorist watchlists, and coordinates with ...
targets in Syria west of Aleppo.
On 13 October 2016, five Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched by at three radar sites in Yemen held by
Houthi
The Houthi movement (; ar, ٱلْحُوثِيُّون ''al-Ḥūthīyūn'' ), officially called Ansar Allah (' ''Partisans of God'' or ''Supporters of God'') and colloquially simply Houthis, is an Islamist political and armed movement that ...
rebels in response to anti-ship missiles fired at US Navy ships the day before.
On 6 April 2017, 59 Tomahawk missiles were
launched from and , targeting
Shayrat Airbase near
Homs, in Syria. The strike was in response to a
chemical weapons attack, an act allegedly carried out by Syrian President
Bashar Al-Assad.
U.S. Central Command
The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Tas ...
stated in a press release that Tomahawk missiles hit "aircraft, hardened aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage, ammunition supply bunkers, defense systems, and radars". Initial U.S. reports claimed "approximately 20 planes" were destroyed, and that 58 out of the 59 cruise missiles launched had "severely degraded or destroyed" their intended target. A later report by US Secretary of Defense
James Mattis
James Norman Mattis (born September 8, 1950) is a retired United States Marine Corps four-star general who served as the 26th US secretary of defense from 2017 to 2019. During his 44 years in the Marine Corps, he commanded forces in the Persian ...
claimed that the strike destroyed about 20% of the Syrian government's operational aircraft. Syrian state-run media claimed that nine civilians, including four children living in nearby villages were killed and another seven wounded as a result of the strike after missiles fell on their homes,
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...
would later state civilians were not intentionally targeted. According to the
satellite image
Satellite images (also Earth observation imagery, spaceborne photography, or simply satellite photo) are images of Earth collected by imaging satellites operated by governments and businesses around the world. Satellite imaging companies sell ima ...
s the
runway
According to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), a runway is a "defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft". Runways may be a man-made surface (often asphalt concrete, as ...
s and the
taxiway
A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with aprons, hangars, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as asphalt or concrete, although smaller general aviation airports sometimes use gravel ...
s have been undamaged and combat flights from the attacked airbase resumed on 7 April a few hours after the attack, although U.S. officials did not state that the runway was a target.
An independent
bomb damage assessment
Bomb damage assessment (BDA), also known as battle damage assessment, is the practice of assessing damage inflicted on a target from a Standoff missile, stand-off weapon, most typically a bomb or air launched missile. It is part of the larger disc ...
conducted by
ImageSat International
Earth Resources Observation Satellite (EROS) is a series of Israeli commercial Earth observation satellites, designed and manufactured by Israel Aircraft Industries (IAI), with optical payload supplied by El-Op. The satellites are owned and operat ...
counted hits on 44 targets, with some targets being hit by more than one missile; these figures were determined using satellite images of the airbase 10 hours after the strike. However, the Russian defense ministry contends that the combat effectiveness of the attack was "extremely low"; only 23 missiles hit the base destroying six aircraft, and it did not know where the other 36 landed. Russian television news, citing a Syrian source at the airfield, said that nine planes were destroyed by the strikes (5 Su-22M3s, 1 Su-22M4, and 3 Mig-23ML) and that all planes were thought to have been out of action at the time.
Al-Masdar News
''Al-Masdar News'' (sometimes abbreviated ''AMN'') ( ar, المصدر نيوز) is an online newspaper founded by Leith Abou Fadel. Al-Masdar is Arabic for "the source". ''Al-Masdar''s coverage focuses largely on conflict zones in the Middle E ...
reported that 15 fighter jets were damaged or destroyed and that the destruction of fuel tankers caused several explosions and a large fire.
Some observers conclude that the Russian government—and therefore also the Syrian government—was warned and Syria had enough time to move most of the planes to another base. The
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the strike damaged over a dozen hangars, a fuel depot, and an air defense base.
On April 14, 2018, the US launched 66 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian targets near Damascus and Homs, as part of the
2018 bombing of Damascus and Homs. These strikes were done in retaliation for alleged
Douma chemical attack
On 7 April 2018, a chemical warfare attack was carried out by forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Douma. Medics and witnesses reported that it caused the deaths of between 40 and 50 people and injuries to possibl ...
. The
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national secu ...
said Syria fired 40 defensive missiles at the allied weapons but did not hit any targets. The Russian military said that Syrian air defenses shot down 71 of the 103 missiles launched by the US and its allies, but it was not possible to verify the claims.
Royal Navy
In 1995, the US agreed to sell 65 Tomahawks to the UK for torpedo-launch from their nuclear attack submarines. The first missiles were acquired and test-fired in November 1998; all
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
fleet submarines are now Tomahawk capable, including the
''Astute''-class. The
Kosovo War
The Kosovo War was an armed conflict in Kosovo that started 28 February 1998 and lasted until 11 June 1999. It was fought by the forces of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (i.e. Serbia and Montenegro), which controlled Kosovo before the wa ...
in 1999 saw the Swiftsure-class
HMS ''Splendid'' become the first British submarine to fire the Tomahawk in combat. The UK subsequently bought 20 more Block III to replenish stocks. The Royal Navy has since fired Tomahawks during the 2000s
Afghanistan War, in
Operation Telic as the British contribution to the 2003
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
, and during
Operation Ellamy in Libya in 2011.
In April 2004, the UK and US governments reached an agreement for the British to buy 64 of the new generation of Tomahawk missile—the Block IV or TacTom missile. It entered service with the Royal Navy on 27 March 2008, three months ahead of schedule. In July 2014 the US approved the sale to the UK of a further 65 submarine-launched Block IV's at a cost of US$140m including spares and support; the Block III missiles were on British books at £1.1m and the Block IV at £0.87m including VAT.
The
Sylver Vertical Launching System on the new
Type 45 destroyer
The Type 45 destroyer, also known as the D or ''Daring'' class, is a class of six guided-missile destroyers built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the early 21st century. The class is primarily designed for anti-aircraft and anti-missile ...
is claimed by its manufacturers to have the capability to fire the Tomahawk, although the A50 launcher carried by the Type 45 is too short for the weapon (the longer A70 silo would be required). Nevertheless, the Type 45 has been designed with weight and space margin for a strike-length Mk41 or Sylver A70 silo to be retrofitted, allowing Type 45 to use the TLAM Block IV if required. The new
Type 26 frigate
The Type 26 frigate or City-class frigate is a class of frigate being built for the United Kingdom's Royal Navy, with variants also being built for the Australian and Canadian navies. The programme, known as the Global Combat Ship, was launched ...
s will have a strike-length Mk41 VLS and the
Type 31 frigate
The Type 31 frigate or Inspiration class, and formerly known as the Type 31e frigate or General Purpose Frigate (GPF), is a planned class of frigate intended to enter service with the United Kingdom's Royal Navy in the 2020s alongside the subm ...
will also be
fitted for but not with In military usage, fit to receive or fitting "for but not with" describes a weapon or system which is called for in a design but not installed or is only partially installed during construction, with the installation completed later as needed. This ...
the system.
In June 2022, the UK announced it would be upgrading its Tomahawk cruise missiles to Block V standard through a £265 million contract with the US government. The missiles will be upgraded from 2024.
United States Air Force
The Air Force is a former operator of the nuclear-armed version of the Tomahawk, the BGM-109G Gryphon.
United States Army
In November 2020, the
U.S. Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...
selected the Tomahawk to fulfill its Mid-Range Capability (MRC), giving it a land-based long-range missile capable of striking ground and sea targets. The Army plans to use the Tomahawk alongside a ground-based
SM-6
The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), is a missile in current production for the United States Navy. It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes, providing capability ...
and field them by late 2023.
Canada
According to infographics released by
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...
, their
new frigates (CSC) will be equipped with the missile.
Australia
In September 2021,
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
n Prime Minister
Scott Morrison
Scott John Morrison (; born 13 May 1968) is an Australian politician. He served as the 30th prime minister of Australia and as Leader of the Liberal Party of Australia from 2018 to 2022, and is currently the member of parliament (MP) for th ...
announced that Australia would acquire Tomahawks for the
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
's
''Hobart''-class air warfare
destroyers.
Japan
Japanese government is approaching the
U.S. government to purchase the U.S.-made Tomahawk cruise missile for attacking enemy base, counterattack. The Japanese government decided to purchase the Tomahawk cruise missile before their domestic improved range "
Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile
The Type 12 Surface-to-Ship Missile (12式地対艦誘導弾) is a truck-mounted anti-ship missile developed by Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries in 2012. It is an upgrade of the Type 88 Surface-to-Ship Missile. The Type 12 features INS with mi ...
" start full-scale operation.
Other users
The Netherlands (2005) and Spain (2002 and 2005) were interested in acquiring the Tomahawk system, but the orders were later cancelled in 2007 and 2009 respectively.
In 2009, the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States stated that Japan would be concerned if the TLAM-N were retired, but the government of Japan has denied that it had expressed any such view.
The
SLCM
A submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a submarine (especially a SSG or SSGN). Current versions are typically standoff weapons known as land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), which are used to attack ...
version of the
Popeye
Popeye the Sailor Man is a fictional cartoon character created by Elzie Crisler Segar.[Missile Technology Control Regime
The Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) is a multilateral export control regime. It is an informal political understanding among 35 member states that seek to limit the proliferation of missiles and missile technology. The regime was formed ...](_blank)
proliferation rules.
As of March 12, 2015, Poland has expressed interest in purchasing long-range Tomahawk missiles for its future submarines.
In 2022 plans for acquiring long-range and precision-guided weapon systems for the s and submarines of
The Royal Netherlands Navy are announced as part of the Strategic Defence Review 2022, Tomahawk is considered a serious contender.
Operators
Current operators
;
*
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
;
*
US 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 ...
*
US Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
*
US Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
Future operators
;
*
Royal Australian Navy
The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of ...
;
*
Royal Canadian Navy
The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN; french: Marine royale canadienne, ''MRC'') is the naval force of Canada. The RCN is one of three environmental commands within the Canadian Armed Forces. As of 2021, the RCN operates 12 frigates, four attack submar ...
;
*
Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force
, abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
;
*
Royal Netherlands Navy
See also
*
List of missiles
Below is a list of missiles, sorted alphabetically into large categories and subcategories by name and purpose.
Other missile lists
Types of missiles:
* Conventional guided missiles
** Air-to-air missile
** Air-to-surface missile
** Anti-rad ...
*
Babur (cruise missile)
*
AV-TM 300
*
BrahMos
*
Nirbhay
Nirbhay (meaning ''Dauntless/Fearless'') is a long range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile designed and developed in India by the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE) which is under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DR ...
* Shaurya missile, Shaurya
* Hoveyzeh (cruise missile), Hoveyzeh
* Hsiung Feng IIE
* RK-55
* 3M-54 Kalibr
* Raduga Kh-55
* AGM-129 ACM
* Hyunmoo-3
* DH-10
* UGM-89 Perseus
* ArcLight (missile)
* SCALP EG#Missile de Croisière Naval, MdCN (missile)
References
External links
Raytheon official site for the Tomahawk missileCSIS Missile Threat - Tomahawk Cruise Missile
{{Authority control
Naval cruise missiles
Submarine-launched cruise missiles
Cruise missiles of the Cold War
Nuclear cruise missiles of the United States
Nuclear cruise missiles of the United States Navy
Guided missiles of the United States Navy
Cold War anti-ship missiles of the United States
Cruise missiles of the United Kingdom
Cruise missiles of the United States
Raytheon Company products
Weapons and ammunition introduced in 1983