BGM-109 Tomahawk

The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile with stubby wings. 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."McDonnell Douglas: History — New Markets," Boeing history website.

Description

There have been several variants of the BGM-109 Tomahawk employing various types of warheads. The operational versions include the unitary conventional land attack TLAM-C, the bomblet-dispensing land attack TLAM-D, the nuclear land attack TLAM-A and TLAM-N (not deployed), and the Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM). Ground Launch Cruise Missiles (GLCM) and their truck-like launch vehicles were destroyed to comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

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 turbojet engines. The WR-402 engine provided the new BLK III with a throttle control, allowing the missile to slow down or speed up during flight. 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

By far the biggest improvement is making the Tomahawk network-centric warfare-capable, 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 envisioned 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.

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), as on the battleship Missouri, Vertical Launch Systems (VLS) in other surface ships and the later Los Angeles class submarines, and in submarines' torpedo tubes. All ABL equipped ships have been decommissioned.

For submarine-launched missiles, after being ejected from the torpedo tube by gas pressure (via the VLS) or hydraulically (via a horizontal torpedo tube), the solid-fuel booster is ignited to exit the ocean and for the first few seconds of airborne flight. After achieving apogee, the missile's wings are unfolded for lift, the airscoop is exposed and the turbofan engine is employed to provide propulsion. Over water, the Tomahawk uses inertial guidance 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, 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 version 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 HPUX.
v4 TTWCS - Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System, (2003).
v5 TWCS - Next Generation weapon control system. (2006)

Other Details

The TLAM-D contains 166 submunitions in 24 groups; 22 groups of seven each, and two groups of six each to conform to the dimensions of the airframe. The submunitions are the same type of Combined Effects Bomblet used in large quantities by the U.S. Air Force. The submunitions can be deployed four groups at a time, however, in order to achieve a sufficient density of coverage typically more than four groups are dispensed at a time. When used in this manner one Tomahawk can attack multiple targets.

TERCOM - Terrain Contour Matching. An in-flight altimeter meaures the height from the TLAM to the ground and the missile will check to see if it is in the right spot from the height. It will make corrections if it does match the prestored height

DSMAC - Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation. A small image is taken of the flight path and downloaded into the TLAM before it is launched. During the flight the missile will verify that the images that it has stored correlates with the image it sees below itself. If the pictures do not match it will correct itself and then finish its mission.

Total program cost: $11,210,000,000

Operators

United States Navy

In the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict, 288 Tomahawks were launched. The first salvo was fired by two attack submarines on April 2, 1991, USS Pittsburgh and Louisville. 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."USS Louisville Returns From Operation Iraqi Freedom." Navy Newsstand. May 15, 2003.

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 (as of 2005) 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 to have the capability to fire the Tomahawk by its manufacturers. Therefore it would appear that Tomahawk is a candidate to be fitted to the Type 45 if the decision is made to fit her with cruise missiles. 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.

Royal Netherlands Navy

On October 14, 2005, the government of The Netherlands decided to buy thirty Tomahawks from Raytheon. The Netherlands will be the third country to use the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile.

Missiles in Same Category

References

External links

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