Fear the Tomahawk!
US Navy Tomahawk arcing in Flight
Welcome back to Brooke In The Air! I just got back from San Diego and as such, I really want to focus on naval aor technology. This week we’ll examine something used by both the air force, navy, and the Royal Navy, the BGM-109 TLAM (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile). Very infamous and extremely potent and powerful yet subsonic therefore very slow!
INCEPTION
Developed at the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University of all things, under James H. Walker near Laurel, Maryland, the Tomahawk emerged in the 1970s as a modular cruise missile first manufactured by General Dynamics (makers of the F-16).
The Tomahawk aimed to fulfill the need for a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile with diverse capabilities. Its modular design allows for compatibility with a range of warheads, including high-explosive, submunitions, and bunker-busters.
The Tomahawk can utilize a variety of guidance systems, including GPS, inertial navigation, and terrain contour matching. Over a dozen variants and upgraded versions have been developed since the original design, including air-, sub-, and ground-launched configurations with both conventional and nuclear armaments.
The Tomahawk's manufacturing history has seen several transitions. General Dynamics served as the sole supplier in the 1970s. From 1992 until 1994, McDonnell Douglas was the sole supplier of Tomahawks, producing Block II and Block III versions and remanufacturing many Tomahawks to Block III specifications.
In 1994, Hughes Aircraft, having purchased General Dynamics' missile division in 1992, outbid McDonnell Douglas to become the sole supplier of Tomahawks.
A joint venture between Hughes and Raytheon manufactured the missile from 1995 until Raytheon's acquisition of Hughes in 1997, solidifying their position as the sole supplier.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Defense purchased 149 Tomahawk Block IV missiles for $202.3 million taxpayer dollars.
As of 2024, Raytheon remains the sole manufacturer of non-nuclear, sea-launched Tomahawk variants.
Tomahawk launched from the USS Normandy during Operation Deliberate Force against Bosnian Serb territory, September of 1995.
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 (TASM) – Anti-ship variant with active radar homing; 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.
RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM-E Block IV) – improved version of the TLAM-C. Also called Tactical Tomahawk.
BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM) – with a W84 nuclear warhead; withdrawn from service in 1991 to comply with the INF Treaty.
AGM-109H/L Medium Range Air-to-Surface Missile (MRASM) – a shorter-range, turbojet powered air-launched cruise missile with cluster munitions; never entered service, cost US$569,000 (1999).
MODERNITY / UPGRADE PACKAGES
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.
Tomahawk Block II variants were all tested during January 1981 to October 1983.
While 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 -was a highly accurate, yet 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.
The Tomahawk Block III introduced in 1993, just after the Gulf War, added time-of-arrival control and improved accuracy for Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) and jam-resistant GPS, smaller, lighter WDU-36 warhead, engine improvements and extended the 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, after Operation Iraqi Freedom, 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).
In August of 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 of 2014, U.S. Central Command 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 effects to better penetrate hardened structures.
US Navy submarine VLS-launched Tomahawk, fired from just below the surface - periscope-depth.
In 2012, the US Navy studied applying Advanced Anti-Radiation Guided Missile (AARGM) technology into the Tactical Tomahawk. Studies are ongoing as of 2024.
In 2014, Raytheon began testing Block IV improvements to attack sea and moving land targets. The new passive radar seeker will pick up the electromagnetic radar signature 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.
The previous Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile, retired over a decade earlier, was equipped with inertial guidance and the seeker of the Harpoon missile and there was concern with its ability to clearly discriminate between targets from a long distance, since at the time US 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 active radar homing.
Raytheon estimates adding the new seeker would cost $250,000 per missile. Other upgrades include a sea-skimming flight path.
The first Block IV TLAMs modified with a maritime attack capability has entered service in 2021.
Naval Tomahawk launched from an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer's VLS during the military intervention in Yugoslavia in 1999.
A supersonic version of the Tomahawk is under consideration for development with a ramjet 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 21 inches (530 mm)-diameter and 20 feet (6.1 m)-long tube.
In October of 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 of 2016, a year later, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) 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 volatile JP-10 fuel is turned into a fuel air explosive to combine with oxygen in the air and burn rapidly.
Thus, the thermobaric 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.
The Tomahawk Block V was introduced in 2021 with improvements to navigation and in-flight targeting. Block V-a, the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) which allows the missile to engage a moving target at sea, and Block V-b 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).
US Navy destroyer-launched Tomahawk missile.
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 V-a: Block V anti-ship version, capable of hitting moving targets at sea. Block VA's range is shorter than the Block V it's based upon, due to the extra space for the new navigation/sensor/passive radar needs. Estimate the Block VA's range is 500–700 km (310–435 mi).
Block V-b: 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 fuel.
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 Launchers (ABL), which were installed on the four reactivated Iowa-class battleships USS Iowa, USS New Jersey, USS Missouri, and USS Wisconsin.
The ABLs were also installed on eight Spruance-class destroyers, the four Virginia-class cruisers, and the nuclear cruiser USS Long Beach. These canisters are also in vertical launching systems (VLS) in other surface ships, capsule launch systems (CLS) in the later Los Angeles-class submarine and Virginia-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), a solid-fuel booster is ignited to propel the missile and guide it out of the water.
After achieving flight, the Tomahawk 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 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:
(v = Version)
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 (abbreviated Mk. 41 VLS). It was the United States' first acknowledged launch of a missile that would have violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, from which the Trump administration withdrew on August 2 after Russia broke this treaty - much to no one’s surprise.
COMMON SUBMUNITIONS
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 more common 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.
ADVANCED NAVIGATION
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 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.
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.
GPS - The Tomahawk relies on the Global Positioning Recognition System as a guidance mechanism. Not unlike what we use in our cars but much more advanced.
US OPERATIONAL HISTORY
Air Force
The Air Force is a former operator of the nuclear-armed version of the Tomahawk, the BGM-109G Gryphon. Now, the USAF uses conventional Tomahawks.
Army
In November of 2020, the U.S. Army 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 and field them by late 2023.
US Army land-based support missile system equipped for firing the Tomahawk cruise missile, land-based variant.
Navy
Intensive operational history.
In the 1991 Gulf War, 288 Tomahawks were launched, 12 from submarines and 276 from surface ships. The first salvo was fired by the destroyer USS Paul F. Foster on January 17, 1991. The attack submarines USS Pittsburgh and USS Louisville followed.
January 17, 1993: 46 Tomahawks were fired at the Zafraniyah Nuclear Fabrication Facility outside Baghdad, in response to Iraq's refusal to cooperate with UN disarmament inspectors. One missile crashed into the side of the Al Rasheed Hotel, killing two civilians.
June 26, 1993: 23 Tomahawks were fired at the Iraqi Intelligence Service's command and control center.
September 10, 1995: 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.
September 3, 1996: 44 ship-launched UGM-109 and B-52-launched AGM-86 cruise missiles were fired at air defense targets in southern Iraq.
August 20 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.
December 16, 1998: 325 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Fox.
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.
October 2001: about 50 Tomahawk missiles struck targets in Afghanistan in the opening hours of Operation Enduring Freedom.
During the infamous 2003 invasion of Iraq, more than 802 Tomahawk missiles were fired at key Iraqi targets.
Initial Tomahawk cruise missile during testing, at the USAF/Nellis AFB Proving Grounds in Nevada, conducted by Raytheon, missile is in the pre-detonation phase. The missile is visible in the center of the photo frame, approaching its target.
Same scenario and location as the previous photo, 3 milliseconds later, the Tomahawk detonates via airburst.
March 3, 2008: two Tomahawk missiles were fired at a target in Somalia by a US warship during the Dobley airstrike, reportedly in an attempt to kill Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, an al Qaeda militant.
December 17, 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. 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 later confirmed the missile was fired by a U.S. Navy ship.
March 19, 2011: 124 Tomahawk missiles were fired by U.S. and British forces (112 US, 12 British) against at least 20 Libyan targets around Tripoli and Misrata. As of 22 March 2011, 159 UGM-109 were fired by US and UK ships against Libyan targets.
September 23, 2014: 47 Tomahawk missiles were fired by the United States from USS Arleigh Burke and USS Philippine Sea, which were operating from international waters in the Red Sea and Persian Gulf, against ISIL targets in Syria in the vicinity of Raqqa, Deir ez-Zor, Al-Hasakah and Abu Kamal, and against Khorasan group targets in Syria west of Aleppo.
October 13, 2016: five Tomahawk cruise missiles were launched by USS Nitze at three radar sites in Yemen held by Houthi rebels in response to anti-ship missiles fired at US Navy ships the day before.
April 6, 2017, 59 Tomahawk missiles were launched from USS Ross (DDG-71) and USS Porter (DDG-78), targeting Shayrat Airbase near Homs, in Syria. The strike was in response to Khan Shaykhun chemical attack, an act carried out by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad. U.S. Central Command 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.
April 14, 2018: the US launched 66 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Syrian targets near Damascus and Homs, as part of the April 2018 missile strikes against Assad's regime in Syria. These strikes were done in retaliation for Douma chemical attack by Assad's forces.
- The United States Department of Defense 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.
On January 11, 2024, U.S. officials stated that over 80 Tomahawk cruise missile were launched by USS Philippine Sea (CG-58), USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), USS Gravely (DDG-107), USS Mason (DDG-87), and USS Florida (SSGN-728) According to U.S. officials these strikes targeted Houthi assets including command and control nodes, munitions, depots, launching systems, production facilities, and air defense radar systems these were then followed up by attacks from aircraft launched from the carrier USS Dwight D. Eisenhower. These strikes came in response to Houthi attacks on civilian vessels transiting the Red Sea and failure to abide by repeated warnings from western officials. With strikes continuing in the following months, this number had increased to 135 missiles by July 24, 2024.
OPERATORS (CURRENT)
United States (obviously)
The United Kingdom (UK)
That’s it so far. Future operators of the Tomahawk include:
Australia, Japan, and The Netherlands
