The U.S. Navy Has Big Plans for the Lethal Tomahawk Missile

Kris Osborn

Security,

The Navy is pursuing high-tech seeker upgrades to the submarine and ship-launched Tomahawk missile as a way to better enable the weapon to destroy moving enemy ships at sea.

The Navy is pursuing high-tech seeker upgrades to the submarine and ship-launched Tomahawk missile as a way to better enable the weapon to destroy moving enemy ships at sea.

The idea is to engineer a Tomahawk missile able to engage and destroy fast-moving near-peer rival ships and land targets in a wide variety of anticipated threat environments. For instance, should there be combat engagements with Russia or China, U.S. weapons, missiles and assets will need to operate in more challenged or contested environments – such as a scenario where satellites or GPS communications and navigational systems are destroyed.

“The enhanced TACTOM (Tactical Tomahawk) modernization program will incorporate an all-weather seeker into the Tomahawk Weapon System Baseline IV.  The seeker, coupled with mid-course in-flight target updates, will provide the missile the ability to strike a moving maritime target,” Capt. Mark Johnson, Tomahawk Program Manager, told Scout Warrior.

The Navy’s 2017 budget request includes $439 million to develop and integrate the software and hardware for this advanced Tomahawk modernization program.

“Development of enhanced TACTOM modernization, which integrates seeker technology and processing capability to the missile, is scheduled to commence in FY17 (fiscal year 2017) with a projected Initial Operational Capability in FY22 (fiscal year 2022),” Johnson added. “These modernization kits include a seeker with an associated data processor, cables and harnesses which will be integrated into the TACTOM All-Up-Round missile.”

Using internal funding, Raytheon has developed and tested a so-called “active seeker” engineered to better enable the weapon to more quickly find, track and destroy moving targets.

(This piece first appeared in Scout Warrior here)

“We are adding a seeker capability so that you would have a midcourse and terminal guidance load for the Tomahawk where it would be able to autonomously detect, track and intercept a moving target on either land or sea,” Dave Adams, Tomahawk Program Manager, Raytheon, told Scout Warrior in an interview.