• Military Menu                       

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

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Tactical Tomahawk Completes Penetration Testing

NAVAIR News Release

May 16, 2003

Press Release Number: EPEOW200305161

The Navy's next generation of Tomahawk Cruise Missile, the Tactical Tomahawk, took flight today at the White Sands Missile Test Range, New Mexico in the final phase of a Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) sponsored advanced concept technology demonstration (ACTD). This was the second of two demonstration test flights of the Tactical Tomahawk configured with a live penetration warhead and completes the scheduled ACTD testing effort. Additionally, today marked the sixth successful test flight for Tactical Tomahawk.

Similar to its previous penetration test flight in March 2003, 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. The missile flew a fully guided flight using global positioning system (GPS) and digital scene matching area correlation (DSMAC) navigation updates and impacted its intended target with precision accuracy. All Tomahawk test objectives were successfully demonstrated.

"Today's test flight is the sixth straight successful launch of the Tactical Tomahawk boasting its design robustness and flexibility," said Capt. Bob Novak, program manager for the Tomahawk All-Up-Round missile. "The program remains on track to provide the fleet with the most technologically advanced land attack cruise missile ever built. 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. 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 field several enhancements including mission planning onboard 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.

The Tomahawk program is managed by the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO(W)) co-located at the NAVAIR complex in Patuxent River, Maryland. The missile is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, Ariz. Tomahawk is a registered trademark of the United States Navy.

NAVAIR provides advanced warfare technology through the efforts of a seamless, integrated, worldwide network of aviation technology experts. From professional training to carrier launch and recovery; from sensor data to precision targeting and real-time communications; from aircraft and weapons development to successful deployment and sustainment; NAVAIR provides dominant combat effects and matchless capabilities to the American warfighter.