Ukraine Tomahawk
Washington is considering making long-range Tomahawk missiles available for Kiev, Vice President J.D. Vance told Fox News. The missiles have a range of up to 2,500 kilometers and can be equipped with nuclear warheads, though not for Ukraine. Combat use of such systems requires intelligence, which, given their range, only the United States can provide. Furthermore, only American specialists can develop and implement flight missions. Therefore, successful launches of Tomahawk missiles are impossible without the participation of US military personnel. Furthermore, the United States is unlikely to fully delegate the combat use of these systems to Ukrainian specialists, as this risks the loss of critical technologies.
The Tomahawk was developed in the 1970s amid Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union. The cruise missile is designed to fly long distances low enough to evade most radar while maintaining the speed of a passenger jet. When the INF Treaty (on the elimination of intermediate-range and short-range missiles) was signed between Reagan and Gorbachev (the 40th US President Ronald Reagan and former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev), the Tomahawk had a range of 2,500 km. It was considered a medium-range missile. The discussion was primarily about ballistic missiles, but the Americans wanted to show they were capable of negotiating, capable of going further. So the US destroyed all ground-based Tomahawk launchers.
The White House is “looking at” the issue, he said on 28 September 2025. Earlier, several Western news media outlets, including the Wall Street Journal and The Telegraph, reported that Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky specifically requested the missiles from the US during a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York earlier this week. According to the WSJ, Trump did not oppose the idea and was also open to lifting restrictions on Kiev’s use of US-made weapons in strikes deep into the Russian territory but made no specific commitments during the meeting. The president was previously against giving Tomahawks to Ukraine, according to Axios.
“We’re certainly looking at it,” Vance said when asked if Washington considers selling the missiles to other NATO members so that they could be handed over to Kiev. When further pressed on the issue of a potential escalation that could follow such a step, Vance said that Trump would ultimately determine Washington’s course of action.
US Special Presidential Envoy Keith Kellogg stated that President Donald Trump had authorized the Ukrainian Armed Forces to use long-range weapons to strike targets deep within Russian territory. He noted that "there are no untouchable places" in Russia. "I think, given what he said and what Vice President Vance and Secretary Rubio have said, the answer is yes, use the deep strike option," Kellogg said when asked whether Kyiv had received the necessary permission from the White House administration. Kellogg’s statements on this matter are exclusively in the category of “on the one hand, it cannot be ignored, on the other hand, it cannot be ignored.”
The strengths of the Tomahawk cruise missiles are their ability to fly at low and extremely low altitudes, their relatively small effective dispersion surface, their powerful warhead (over 400 kg), and their circular error probable (CEP) of a few meters.
In moderately rugged terrain, the radar systems of a surface-to-air missile system can detect a Tomahawk cruise missile flying at extremely low altitudes (less than 200 meters) at a range of approximately 16-17 kilometers. Upon detection, a burst of two surface-to-air missiles must be immediately launched. The SAM will engage the target at a range of approximately 9-11 kilometers.Thus, the coverage area of the air defense system against Tomahawk missiles is relatively small.And this significantly limits the ability of anti-aircraft missile forces to destroy them.
If the transfer of Typhon-version Tomahawk cruise missiles to the Ukrainian Armed Forces becomes a reality, then such deliveries from the United States remove all possible restrictions for the Russian military-political leadership regarding the use of special weapons in the SVO zone, in the opinion of Mikhail Mikhailovich Khodarenok, military observer for Gazeta.Ru and a retired colonel.
As of September 29, 2025, there is no publicly available information on a specific number of Tomahawk missiles earmarked or approved for transfer to Ukraine. Ukraine's request for these long-range cruise missiles is under active consideration by the U.S. administration, but no quantities have been disclosed in official statements or media reports. The potential transfer is part of broader discussions on military aid, with U.S. Vice President JD Vance confirming that the White House is "looking at" the option, amid warnings from Russia about escalation risks.
Public estimates of the total U.S. Navy Tomahawk inventory (not specific to Ukraine aid) date back to around 4,000 missiles as of 2020, after accounting for training, retirements, and historical use. Production rates remain low—e.g., only 55 were purchased in 2023, with 22 requested for FY 2025 and 57 planned for 2026—while recent conflicts (such as strikes against Houthi targets in Yemen) have depleted stockpiles, with over 80 expended in 2024 alone. Any potential transfer to Ukraine would likely draw from this inventory but could be limited by U.S. operational needs, production constraints, and the need for compatible launch platforms.
Newly developed ground-launchers exist for Tomahawks, but the technology is currently only fielded by the United States. Ground-launch systems for the cruise missile began to be developed after the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. The US-Russia agreement banned ground-launched missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.
The U.S. Marine Corps was retiring 4-8 Tomahawk launchers in FY 2026, with discussions about possible repurposing for Ukraine. As of mid-2025, the Marine Corps had between four and eight LRF units in service and had planned to expand the fleet to 56 by 2028. However, withdrawal is now scheduled for the 2026 fiscal year, which begins in the US on October 1, 2025.
Defense Express reports that the US Marine Corps recently decided to retire its Long Range Fires (LRF) launchers for Tomahawk missiles. The reason for the withdrawal was poor mobility on soft terrain, which limited their usefulness during amphibious operations. The LRF is a remotely operated launcher mounted on a JLTV chassis. While the Marines intend to retain the platform for use in other systems such as NMESIS with Naval Strike Missiles, the Tomahawk-specific launch components could be repurposed.
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