The
Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) 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 submerged
submarine. 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.
["," Boeing history website.] 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 naval (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.
- BGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Nuclear (TLAM-N) with a W80 nuclear warhead - withdrawn from service
- RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti Ship Missile (TASM) - radar guided anti-shipping variant
- BGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Conventional (TLAM-C) with a unitary warhead
- BGM-109D Tomahawk Land Attack Missile - Dispenser (TLAM-D) with submunitions
- RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM Block IV) - improved version of the TLAM-C
- AGM-109H/L Medium Range Air to Surface Missile (MRASM) - a shorter range, turbojet powered ASM, never entered service
Ground Launch Cruise Missiles (
GLCM) and their truck-like launch vehicles were destroyed 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 have a better Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) system as well as improved turbofan engines. The WR-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 Phase II TLAMs have better deep-strike capabilities and are equipped with a real-time targeting system for striking moving targets.
Tactical Tomahawk
A major improvement to the Tomahawk is its
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” equips the TLAM with a TV-camera for battlefield observation loitering that allows warfighting commanders to assess damage to the target and to redirect the missile to an alternative target. Additionally the Tactical Tomahawk is able to be reprogrammed in-flight to attack one of 16 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 Navy in late 2004.
On May 2009, Raytheon Missile Systems proposed an upgrade to the Tomahawk Block IV land-attack cruise missile that would allow it to kill or disable large, hardened warships at 900 nm range.
Launch systems
Launch of a Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile from the
USS Stethem.
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), as on the battleship
Missouri,
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 USS Missouri launching a Tomahawk missile.
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: $US11,210,000,000
Operators
United States Navy
In the 1991
Persian Gulf conflict, 288 Tomahawks were launched. The first salvo was fired by the cruiser
USS San Jacinto on January 17, 1991. The attack submarines
USS Pittsburgh and
USS Louisville followed. The Louisville Slugger company gave the crew of the latter special-edition baseball bats emblazoned with an image of the submarine conducting a Tomahawk launch. The honor was repeated during
Operation Iraqi Freedom. The United States Navy has a stockpile of around 3,500 Tomahawk cruise missiles of all variants.
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.
It is () in use with the
Swiftsure class and
Trafalgar class attack submarines. It is planned that all Royal Navy submarines will be Tomahawk capable by 2008, including the future
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 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. The Royal Navy later used them in the 2001
Afghanistan War and
Operation Telic, the British contribution to the
2003 Iraq War.
The Royal Navy has recently purchased the Block IV tomahawk which entered service as of the 27th March 2008, three months ahead of schedule.
Spanish Navy
In July
2006, the United States Congress authorized the
Spanish Navy to buy Tomahawk missiles. The number of missiles to be purchased was 24. The missiles were to be used in the AEGIS
Álvaro de Bazán Class Frigates and in the new S80 submarines. The missiles were to have been delivered between 2008 and 2012.
In
October 2009 the Spanish Government informed the
United States Department of Defense that Spain will not go ahead with the purchase of the Tomahawk missiles due to current budget restrictions.
See also
- Missile of the same class
