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Tomahawk (missile family)

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For the sounding rocket, see TE-416 Tomahawk.
Tomahawk
A BGM-109 Tomahawk
TypeLong-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile
Place of origin United States
Service history
In service1983-present
Production history
ManufacturerGeneral Dynamics (initially)
Raytheon/McDonnell Douglas
Unit costUS$569,000 (1999)[1]AGM-109H/L version to 1,45 millions Tactic version (2011)[2]
Specifications
Mass2,900 lb (1,300 kg), 3,500 lb (1,600 kg) with booster
LengthWithout booster: 18 ft 3 in (5.56 m) With booster: 20 ft 6 in (6.25 m)
Diameter20.4 in (0.52 m)
Wingspan8 ft 9 in (2.67 m)
WarheadConventional: 1,000 lb (450 kg) Bullpup, or submunitions dispenser with BLU-97/B Combined Effects Bomb, or a 200kt (840 TJ) W80 nuclear device (inactivated in accordance with SALT)
Detonation
mechanism
FMU-148 since TLAM Block III, others for special applications
EngineWilliams International F107-WR-402 turbofan
using TH-dimer fuel
and a solid-fuel rocket booster
Operational
range
Block II TLAM-A – 1,350 nmi (1,550 mi; 2,500 km)

Block III TLAM-C, Block IV TLAM-E - 900 nmi (1,000 mi; 1,700 km)

Block III TLAM-D - 700 nmi (810 mi; 1,300 km)
Maximum speed Subsonic; about 550 mph (880 km/h)
Guidance
system
GPS, INS, TERCOM, DSMAC
Launch
platform
Vertical Launch System (VLS) and horizontal submarine torpedo tubes (known as TTL (torpedo tube launch))

The Tomahawk (English pronunciation: /ˈtɒməhɔːk/, English pronunciation: /ˈtɑːməhɔːk/) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Introduced by General Dynamics in the 1970s, it was designed as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. It has been improved several times and, by way of corporate divestitures and acquisitions, is now made by Raytheon. Some Tomahawks were also manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security).[3][4]

Description

The Tomahawk missile family consists of a number of subsonic, jet engine-powered missiles for attacking a variety of surface targets. Although a number of launch platforms have been deployed or envisaged, only sea (both surface ship and submarine) launched variants are currently in service. Tomahawk has a modular design, allowing a wide variety of warhead, guidance and range capabilities.

Variants

There have been several variants of the BGM-109 Tomahawk employing various types of warheads.

  • AGM-109H/L Medium Range Air to Surface Missile (MRASM) - a shorter range, turbojet powered ASM with bomblet munitions; never entered service.
  • BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Nuclear (TLAM-A) with a W80 nuclear warhead.
  • BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Conventional (TLAM-C) with a unitary warhead.
  • BGM-109D Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Dispenser (TLAM-D) with submunitions.
  • BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM)- with a W84 nuclear warhead; withdrawn from service in 1987.
  • RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti Ship Missile (TASM) - radar guided anti-shipping variant.
  • RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM Block IV) - improved version of the TLAM-C.

Ground Launch Cruise Missiles (GLCM) and their truck-like launch vehicles were employed at bases in Europe; it was withdrawn from service to comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Many of the anti-ship versions were converted into TLAMs at the end of the Cold War. The Block III TLAMs that entered service in 1993 can fly farther and use Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to strike more precisely. Block IV TLAMs are completely redesigned with an improved turbofan engine. The F107-402 engine provided the new BLK III with a throttle control, allowing in-flight speed changes. This engine also provided better fuel economy. The Block IV TLAMs have enhanced deep-strike capabilities and are equipped with a real-time targeting system for striking fleeting targets.

Tactical Tomahawk

A major improvement to the Tomahawk is network-centric warfare-capabilities, using data from multiple sensors (aircraft, UAVs, satellites, foot soldiers, tanks, ships) to find its target. It will also be able to send data from its sensors to these platforms. It will be a part of the networked force being implemented by the Pentagon.

"Tactical Tomahawk" 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.

In May 2009, Raytheon Missile Systems proposed an upgrade to the Tomahawk Block IV land-attack cruise missile that would allow it to destroy or disable large, hardened warships at 900 nautical miles (1,700 km) range.[5]

Launch systems

Each missile is stored and launched from a pressurized canister that protects it during transportation and storage and acts as a launch tube. These canisters are racked in Armored Box Launchers (ABL), commonly found on Iowa class battleships such as the USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin. These canisters are also in Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) in other surface ships, Capsule Launch Systems (CLS) in the later Los Angeles class submarines, and in submarines' torpedo tubes. 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), the missile exits the water and a solid-fuel booster is ignited for the first few seconds of airborne flight until transition to cruise.

After achieving flight, the missile's wings are unfolded for lift, the airscoop is exposed and the turbofan engine is employed for cruise flight. Over water, the Tomahawk uses inertial guidance 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) system or GPS, producing a claimed accuracy 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)

Other details

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. 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.

TERCOM - 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 on to 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.

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.

  • Total program cost: $US 11,210,000,000[6]

Operators

Tomahawk operators

United States Navy

  • On 10 September 1995, the USS Normandy 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.
  • On 3 September 1996, 44 cruise missiles between UGM-109 and B-52 launched AGM-86s, were fired at air defence targets in Southern Iraq.
  • On 16 December 1998, Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets in during Operation Desert Fox.
  • In October 2001, approximately 50 Tomahawk missiles struck terrorist targets in Afghanistan in the opening hours of Operation Enduring Freedom.
  • On 17 December 2009, two Tomahawk missiles were fired at targets in Yemen[8]. One of the target was hit by a TLAM-D missile. The target was described as an 'alleged al-Qa’ida training camp' in al-Ma’jalah in al-Mahfad a region of the Abyan governorate of Yemen. Ammnesty international reported that 55 people were killed in the attack, including 41 civilians (21 children, 14 women, and six men). The US and Yeman governments refused to confirm or deny involvement, but diplomatic cables released as part of Cablegate later confirmed the missile was fired by a US Navy ship.[9]
  • On 19 March 2011, 124 Tomahawk missiles[10] were fired by U.S. and British forces (122 US, 2 British)[11] against at least 20 Libyan targets around Tripoli and Misrata.[12] As of 22 March 2011, 159 UGM-109 were fired by US and UK ships against Libyan targets. [13]
  • The United States Navy has a stockpile of around 3,500 Tomahawk cruise missiles of all variants, with a combined worth of approximately US $2.6 billion.

Royal Navy

The United States agreed to sell more than 60 Tomahawks to the United Kingdom in 1995 for use with Royal Navy nuclear submarines. The first missiles were acquired and test-fired in 1998.

All Royal Navy fleet submarines are currently (as of 2011) Tomahawk capable, including the new Astute-class attack submarine.

In 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. The SYLVER vertical launch system to be fitted to the new Type 45 destroyer is claimed by its manufacturers to have the capability to fire the Tomahawk. Therefore it would appear that Tomahawk is a candidate to be fitted to the Type 45 if required. France, which also uses the SYLVER launcher, is developing a version of the Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missile capable of launch from the SYLVER system, which would give a similar but much shorter ranged land attack capability.

The Kosovo War in 1999 saw HMS Splendid become the first British submarine to fire the Tomahawk in combat. It has been reported that seventeen of the twenty Tomahawks fired by the British during that conflict hit their targets accurately.[citation needed] The Royal Navy later used them during the 2001 Afghanistan War, in Operation Telic, the British contribution to the 2003 Iraq War, and during Operation Ellamy in Libya in 2011.

The Royal Navy has purchased the Block IV tomahawk which entered service on 27 March 2008, three months ahead of schedule.[14]

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.[15] [16]

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.[17]

It is believed that the SLCM version of the Popeye was developed by Israel after the US Clinton administration refused an Israeli request in 2000 to purchase Tomahawk SLCM's because of international MTCR proliferation rules.[18]

In the 2011 science fiction movie, Transformers: Dark of the Moon, several Tomahawk missiles are fired at Decepticon ships during the movie's climactic battle in Chicago.

See also

References

  1. ^ The US Navy - Fact File
  2. ^ http://costofwar.com/en/publications/2011/analysis-fiscal-year-2012-pentagon-spending-request/
  3. ^ "McDonnell Douglas: History — New Markets," Boeing history website.
  4. ^ "Raytheon Tomahawk Cruise Missile," Raytheon Tomahawk Evolution Handout.
  5. ^ Antiship Missiles Engage Diverse Targets
  6. ^ FAS - BGM-109 Tomahawk
  7. ^ BGM-109 Tomahawk - Smart Weapons
  8. ^ http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cruise-missiles-strike-yemen/story?id=9375236
  9. ^ "Landmine monitor, US 2011 report".
  10. ^ "Live blog:allied airstrikes continue against Gadhafi forces". CNN. 2011-03-20.
  11. ^ http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/international/amid-missiles-and-bombs,-libyas-latest-cease-fire-is-met-with-western-skepticism-25-ncx-20110320. {{cite news}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  12. ^ "U.S. launches first missiles against Gadhafi forces". CNN. 2011-03-19.
  13. ^ "U.S. aviators rescued; Gadhafi remains defiant". CNN. 11 May 2011.
  14. ^ Royal Navy - World-Class Missile Achieves In-Service Date
  15. ^ No Tomahawks for defence, jets up for sale - New Europe
  16. ^ http://www.infodefensa.com/esp/noticias/noticias.asp?cod=1993&n=Defensa%20comunica%20a%20EE%20UU%20que%20no%20comprar%E1%20misiles%20Tomahawk
  17. ^ Japanese Government Rejects TLAM/N Claim
  18. ^ http://www.nti.org/db/submarines/israel/
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