Online Sponsor: April 01, 2003
Programming time for Tactical Tomahawk By BRADLEY PENISTON, DEFENSE NEWS MEDIA GROUP ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The Tactical Tomahawk cruise missile is on track to enter service next year, the head of the U.S. Navy’s strike warfare effort said April 1.
The latest version of the 20-year-old, Raytheon-built weapon will further reduce the time needed to program it for strike operations to less than an hour, said Capt. Ed Quinn.
Speaking to defense and industry representatives here for the Defense News Media Group conference — Strike Warfare and Precision Attack: Compressing the ‘Flash-to-Bang’ Cycle — Quinn said other improvements for the Tomahawk will include:
** Better resistance to attempts to jam its ability to receive guidance from Global Positioning System satellites;
** Two-way data links so the missiles can relay their status en route to a target;
** The ability to preprogram up to 15 possible targets before launch so the missile can easily be directed to strike where needed; and
** The ability to loiter aloft for several hours, waiting to be called onto a target.
Quinn said the Navy was also looking at the Storm Shadow cruise missile built by MBDA, London, as “possible complementing systems” for naval strike. He did not elaborate.
Quinn also hinted at the possibility that the new Tomahawk variant may have a two-punch warhead: one small charge to help the missile penetrate walls or ceilings, and a second, larger one to do damage.
The missile will cost about $500,000 per copy, he said.
Asked about reported failure rates of Tomahawks used in the Iraq campaign, Quinn said that about 1 percent had “failed to transition” to level cruising flight. Several hundred of the subsonic missiles have been fired from Navy ships and submarines since the campaign began, and about seven have fallen far short of their targets. |
Sponsor: 
Maj. Gen. John L "Jack" Hudson |
