• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Tactical Tomahawk Penetrates Test Range Target

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030321-25
Release Date: 3/21/2003 4:55:00 PM

By Sandra Schroeder, Naval Air Systems Command Public Affairs

WHITE SANDS, N.M. (NNS) -- The Navy's next generation cruise missile, the Tactical Tomahawk, took flight March 21 at the White Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico.

The flight is part of a Defense Threat Reduction Agency sponsored advanced concept technology demonstration. This marked the first developmental test flight of the Tactical Tomahawk configured with a live penetration warhead.

The Tactical Tomahawk was launched vertically from a ground test stand that simulated the normal shipboard Vertical Launching System.

The missile successfully executed all missile boost phase events and transitioned to cruise flight for its assigned land attack mission. It flew a fully guided flight using global positioning system and digital scene matching area correlation navigation updates, and impacted its intended target with precision accuracy. All Tomahawk test objectives appeared to have been successfully demonstrated.

"Completion of this flight test continues to demonstrate the unprecedented capability of this weapon system," said Capt. Bob Novak, program manager for the Tomahawk All-Up-Round missile.

"Today's flight proves that the Tactical Tomahawk design is robust and flexible enough to potentially carry different payloads if required by the operating forces. The program remains on track to provide the Fleet with the most technologically advanced land attack cruise missile ever built." He went on to say, "I am extremely proud of this government/industry team.their efforts will put absolute combat power and flexibility into the hands of the fleet in the near future. Simply put, Tactical Tomahawk will be a centerpiece of an unheard of revolution in strike warfare planning and execution."

The Tactical Tomahawk, or Block IV, is the latest variant of the Navy's premiere cruise missile, due to reach the fleet in 2004.

It is managed as part of the Naval Air Systems Command team. The Tomahawk is ship and submarine launched, and was first employed operationally during Desert Storm.

Since then, the missile has been heralded for its accuracy and lethality. The Tactical Tomahawk will boast several enhancements, including mission planning aboard the launch platform, in-flight retargeting, loiter and battle damage assessment capability, and in-flight health and status reports. These capabilities increase fleet effectiveness, while significantly reducing acquisition and life cycle costs.

As in all Tomahawk flight tests, extreme safety precautions were maintained throughout the entire flight evolution.

Tomahawk is a registered trademark of the U.S. Navy. The manufacturer of the Tomahawk is Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Ariz.

NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts.