$63,728,000 Worth Of Tomahawk® Cruise Missiles Fired Into Libya In Operation Odyssey Dawn

Tomahawk® Cruise Missile

According to military officials, 112 Tomahawk® cruise missiles were fired into Libya with the intent of knocking out the anti-aircraft capabilities of Muammar Gaddafi. The U S Navy places the cost of a single Tomahawk® cruise missile at $569,000.00.  

Regardless of the politics, that’s a lot of money. We hear these terms every time a military action starts up, but this extract tells all about the Tomahawk® Cruise Missile:

Tomahawk® Cruise Missile

Description
The Tomahawk® Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an all-weather, long range, subsonic cruise missile used for land attack warfare, launched from U. S. Navy surface ships and U.S. Navy and Royal Navy submarines. 

Features
Tomahawk carries a nuclear or conventional payload. The conventional, land-attack, unitary variant carries a 1,000-pound-class warhead (TLAM-C) while the submunitions dispenser variant carries 166 combined-effects bomblets (TLAM-D). The Block III version incorporates engine improvements, an insensitive extended range warhead, time-of-arrival control and navigation capability using an improved Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) and Global Positioning System (GPS) — which can significantly reduce mission-planning time and increase navigation and terminal accuracy. Tomahawk Block IV (TLAM-E) is the latest improvement to the Tomahawk missile family. Block IV capability enhancements include: (a) increased flexibility utilizing two-way satellite communications to reprogram the missile in-flight to a new aimpoint or new preplanned mission, send a new mission to the missile en route to a new target, and missile health and status messages during the flight; (b) increased responsiveness with faster launch timelines, mission planning capability aboard the launch platform, loiter capability in the area of emerging targets, the ability to provide battle damage indication in the target area, and the capability to provide a single-frame image of the target or other areas of interest along the missile flight path; and (c) improved affordability with a production cost of a Block IV significantly lower than the cost of a new Block III and a 15-year Block IV recertification interval compared to the eight-year interval for Block III.  

Background

Tomahawk® cruise missiles are designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds, and are piloted over an evasive route by several mission tailored guidance systems. The first operational use was in Operation Desert Storm, 1991, with immense success. The missile has since been used successfully in several other conflicts. In 1995 the governments of the United States and United Kingdom signed a Foreign Military Sales Agreement for the acquisition of 65 missiles, marking the first sale of Tomahawk® to a foreign country.  

Point Of Contact
Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation [PEO (W)]
Public Affairs Office
Naval Air Station
Patuxent River, Maryland 20670-1547
phone: 301-757-9703 

General Characteristics

Primary Function: Long-range subsonic cruise missile for striking high value or heavily defended land targets.

Contractor: Raytheon Systems Company, Tucson, AZ.Date Deployed: Block II TLAM-A IOC - 1984
Block III – IOC 1994
Block IV – IOC expected 2004.

Unit Cost: Approximately $569,000 (FY99 $).

Propulsion: Block II/III TLAM-A, C & D - Williams International F107 cruise turbo-fan engine; ARC/CSD solid-fuel booster

Length: 18 feet 3 inches (5.56 meters); with booster: 20 feet 6 inches (6.25 meters).

Diameter: 20.4 inches (51.81 cm).

Wingspan: 8 feet 9 inches (2.67 meters).

Weight: 2,900 pounds (1,315.44 kg); 3,500 pounds (1,587.6 kg) with booster.

Speed: Subsonic - about 550 mph (880 km/h).

Range: Block II TLAM-A – 1350 nautical miles (1500 statute miles, 2500 km)
Block III TLAM-C - 900 nautical miles (1000 statute miles, 1600 km)
Block III TLAM-D - 700 nautical miles (800 statute miles, 1250 km
Block IV TLAM-E - 900 nautical miles (1000 statute miles, 1600 km)

Guidance System: Block II TLAM-A – INS, TERCOM, Block III TLAM-C, D & Block IV TLAM-E – INS, TERCOM, DSMAC, and GPS.

Warhead: Block II TLAM-N – W80 nuclear warhead
Block III TLAM-C and Block IV TLAM-E - 1,000 pound class unitary warhead
Block III TLAM-D - conventional submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets.

Those are the facts on the Tomahawk® Cruise Missile.