tomahawk cruise missile history

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What Is a Tomahawk Missile?

By: Martin Stezano

Updated: August 30, 2018 | Original: April 7, 2017

History of the Tomahawk cruise missile

The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American-developed weapon classified as a cruise missile, which is an unmanned jet-propelled aircraft that uses guidance systems to seek and destroy targets.

The missiles are approximately 21 feet long, weigh 1.5 tons and can be launched from both traditional torpedo tubes and vertical launch tubes on modern submarines. Once the Tomahawk is in the air, the turbojet engine kicks in and its wings spread, allowing it to reach speeds of 500 miles per hour.

The sophisticated guidance system uses a combination of GPS, TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) and DSMAC (Digital Scene-Matching Area Correlator) to ensure the missile accurately destroys its target. TERCOM uses radar signals, while DSMAC uses optical images stored in the electronic system. As it closes in on its target, the missile drops to an altitude of 100 feet or less before impact. In layman’s terms, this type of missile is designed to be used at great distances, with pinpoint accuracy, minimizing risk to personnel and civilians.

What sets the Tomahawk apart from other types of munitions is that combination of size, speed, distance and trajectory. Traditional saturation bombing–in which hundreds of bombs are dropped from a plane–is powerful, but not accurate. Saturation bombing also requires the use of a pilot and crew, which endangers personnel. Ballistic missiles, like the Scud, can travel greater distances at faster speeds, but require much bigger launching pads and a lot more fuel, meaning they can’t be used as covertly The Tomahawk is smaller and flies lower than other missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

Development of what would become the Tomahawk began in the 1940s, but the emergence of the Polaris ballistic missile program led to its shelving. Technological advances made it possible for the missile to be revisited in the 1970s, and the new weapon was introduced by defense contractor McConnell Douglas in 1983.

Initially, there were three types of Tomahawk missile: an anti-ship one with conventional warheads, and two land-attack versions with either nuclear or conventional warheads attached. Today, only the land-attack, conventional non-nuclear version is in use. Improvements have been made on the original design, and today’s more accurate and more powerful versions are manufactured by Raytheon.

The Tomahawk Missile in Use

The Tomahawk made its debut in live combat during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. On January 17, the USS Paul F. Foster launched the first Tomahawk missile, and nearly 300 additional missiles were launched from U.S. Navy ships and submarines in subsequent days of the conflict. The new weapon proved instrumental in bringing a swift end to the war.

Production of the missile ramped up after that, and hundreds of Tomahawks were used throughout the 1990s. On December 16, 1998, 415 missiles were fired at Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Fox, after Saddam Hussein refused to abide by United Nations-mandated inspections. They were also used by NATO forces in early 1999, during Operation Allied Force operations against targets in Serbia and Montenegro. More than 800 Tomahawks were launched during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and other successful deployments include Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.

Use of the missile has not been without controversy. On December 17, 2009, 41 civilians–mostly women and children–were killed by missiles targeting an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen. Although U.S. and Yemeni government officials initially denied responsibility, an investigation by Amnesty International—and revelations by WikiLeaks—eventually concluded that the missiles had been American Tomahawks launched from a naval vessel.

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Tomahawk missiles: a modular, incredibly accurate and brutally lethal weapon.

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The Tomahawk missile first joined the US Navy fleet in 1983 and following multiple recertifications, has continued to be an integral weapon for ship and submarine-based land-attack operations. Although it has been frequently employed since its creation, the Tomahawk missile is most notable for its use in the Persian Wars .

Tomahawk Missile’s Feature Some Incredible Capabilities

Priced at approximately $1 million apiece , the Tomahawk missile packs a major punch. It can reach a speed of up to 550 miles per hour, reach a distance of 700 to 1350 nautical miles depending on which variant of the missile is fired, and successfully reach its target even in heavily defended air space.

The missile can carry 160 bomblets, a 1,000-pound conventional warhead, or a W80 nuclear warhead. Using GPS, inertial navigation, and terrain contour matching, the Tomahawk has the ability to hit within ten yards of its intended target. It can also perform evasive maneuvers at extremely low altitudes, allowing it to take out diverse targets and do so without causing much collateral damage.

Tomahawk Missiles are built for Mods

The physical look of the weapon is intended to resemble a “flying torpedo”, which it does nicely. The look of the missile has remained pretty much the same since its beginning. The slim design allows the missile to be compatible with vertical launchers on surface warships as well as torpedo tubes on submarines .

The overall shelf life of the missile is 30 years and requires recertification at the time of expiration. Recertification allows ample opportunity to apply modifications to the missile that increase its lethality while also ensuring that the missile is still ready for combat.

The Tomahawk missile was built with a modular design, which makes internal modifications and upgrades relatively simple. Specifications that work efficiently can remain in the missile, while specifications that need to be replaced are done so without affecting the rest of the internal makeup of the missile.

Block Va/Vb

Block Va allows this variant of the Tomahawk to strike moving targets at sea. It has a new seeker that is capable of accurately identifying and targeting warships as far as 1,000 miles away. This variant brings the US Navy up to speed with Russian and Chinese adversaries that were already equipped with long-range anti-ship munitions.

Block Vb has a joint multi-effects warhead that allows the Tomahawk to hit more diverse land targets. It is a hard-target kill variant that is capable of destroying densely-constructed enemy assets which previously would have required more specialized munitions.

International interest

Beyond its use by the US, the Tomahawk missile has also been used by the United Kingdom’s Royal Navy in a number of operations, and now all Royal Navy fleet submarines are Tomahawk missile capable. Additionally, there had previously been expressed interest in acquiring the missile by countries like Spain, the Netherlands, Canada, and Australia, though many had not followed through with their orders.

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Tomahawk – A Brief History of the BGM-109

“Following its combat debut in the 1991 Persian Gulf War, the ship or sub-launched BGM-109 would be used in every major U.S. air campaign for the next 30 years”

WHILE OFTEN CONSIDERED  on the ‘cutting-edge’ of America’s arsenal, the Raytheon Tomahawk is almost an antique, with a 40-year history dating back to the Cold War.

The one-and-a-half ton, turbo-jet-powered flying bomb was originally designed to penetrate Soviet airspace at treetop level and deliver either nuclear or conventional warheads with near pinpoint accuracy.

Following its combat debut in the 1991 Persian Gulf War , the ship or sub-launched BGM-109 would be used in every major U.S. air campaign for the next 30 years. In all, more than 2,000 have been fired in anger. Here’s a breakdown:

• An estimated 280 missiles struck targets throughout Iraq during Desert Storm. In fact, among the first blows to land on Saddam’s military were from cruise missiles launched by U.S. Navy subs and surface vessels.

• Two years later, 23 Tomahawks pounded the headquarters of the Iraqi secret service in Baghdad. President Bill Clinton ordered the attack following revelations that the Ba’athist dictator had ordered his agents to assassinate George Bush Sr. while he was visiting Kuwait City .

• Another 44 missiles were launched to support the Kurdish uprising in northern Iraq in 1996.

• In 1998, a total of 50 were used in conjunction with massive air strikes in response to Iraq’s defiance of UN resolutions banning the regime’s procurement of weapons of mass destruction. The three-day campaign, codenamed Operation Desert Fox , killed as many as 2,000 Iraqis but ended Baghdad’s nuclear and chemical warfare ambitions.

• More Tomahawks were fired into Iraq during the opening round of the 2003 U.S.-led Iraqi invasion than were expended in all other previous American air operations since 1991 combined — a staggering 725 missiles bombarded the country during the controversial “shock and awe” campaign. Live video of the missiles slamming into the capital stunned the world.

• And that wasn’t the only time Washington’s ‘ Tomahawk diplomacy ’ would draw fire from the international community. In 1998, The Clinton Administration launched 75 cruise missiles at Sudan and Afghanistan following the deadly Aug. 7, 1998 al Qaeda bombing of two U.S. embassies in east Africa . In addition to hitting terrorist training camps in Afghanistan, the Pentagon targeted a suspected chemical weapons plant in Khartoum; it turned out to be a civilian pharmaceutical factory. The blunder drew worldwide condemnation.

• More recently, a 2009 strike at terrorist targets in Yemen resulted in the deaths of more than 50 civilians.

• American Tomahawks were also used against targets in Bosnia in 1995, Serbia in 1999 as well as Libya in 2011.

Here are some other essential facts about the Tomahawk cruise missile.

TOMAHAWKS WERE INITIALLY DEVELOPED by McDonnell Douglas ; Raytheon currently supplies them. The company, which mass-produces the Block IV version of the weapon, uses components from 100 suppliers in two-dozen U.S. states. [ 1 ]

EACH 20-FOOT LONG MISSILE comes in its own pressurized canister that can be fired from a vertical launch tube on a surface vessel or a submarine torpedo tube. When triggered, a solid booster rocket hurtles the weapon skyward for about seven seconds, at which point, stabilizing fins deploy and the system’s 120-pound turbofan engine is activated. The Tomahawk then levels off and streaks towards its target at 550 mph (890 km/h). It has a maximum range of 1,500 miles (2,500 km) and can deliver a 1,000-lb. conventional warhead or W80 150 kiloton nuclear bomb to within 30 feet of its designated target. [ 2 ]

THE TOMAHAWK HAS SPAWNED an array of variants including an air-launched version, one that showers enemy installations with tiny exploding sub-munitions, a ground-launched model that can be fired from a truck, and a radar-guided anti-shipping missile. In recent years, the Pentagon has also tested Tomahawks that can home in on enemy radar systems, in addition to a special version armed with a bunker buster warhead. Others feature an improved guidance system that can track and destroy moving vehicles. The “ Tactical Tomahawk, ” can reportedly loiter over a battlefield for hours before being assigned a target to destroy. The U.S. military is also considering upgrading the missile with ramjet technology allowing the weapon to travel at speeds approaching Mach 3.

ORIGINALLY, THE TOMAHAWK GUIDANCE SYSTEM relied on an advanced terrain-following radar . Using the technology, an onboard computer could compare ground imagery collected in realtime against a high-res map stored in memory to pinpoint the weapon’s precise position and guide it to the target. Upgraded versions in the 1990s were outfitted with GPS systems, while even newer models draw location data from friendly aircraft, UAVs and other vehicles.

CRITICS OF THE TOMAHAWK have long pointed out that the weapons are unfeasibly expensive. It’s been estimated that each missile costs up to $1.4 million [ 3 ] – the rough equivalent of 56 JDAMS GPS-guided smart bombs – however, the U.S. Navy puts the cost per unit at just under $600,000. Defenders of the system argue that Tomahawks are safer (and therefore ultimately cheaper) to the alternative: exposing highly trained pilots and their multi-million dollar warplanes to the hazards of combat.

THE UNITED STATES IS NOT THE ONLY user of the Tomahawk. The weapons are also in the inventory of Great Britain. Netherlands and Spain sought to acquire the weapon in recent years, but no deals were inked.

THE AMERICAN MILITARY CURRENTLY HAS an estimated 3,500 Tomahawk cruise missiles in its inventory, representing an estimated $2.5 billion. [ 4 ] Production of the weapon is slated to end next year, with a successor system expected to replace it sometime in the mid 2020s. When the last of the Tomahawks are finally retired, the system will have been in existence for more than 50 years.

SOURCES http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_(missile ) http://www.navair.navy.mil/index.cfm?fuseaction=home.display&key=F4E98B0F-33F5-413B-9FAE-8B8F7C5F0766 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/25/cruise-missiles-missile_n_840365.html http://www.americanhistory.si.edu/subs/weapons/armament/missiles/index.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/gulf/weapons/tomahawk.html http://www.cbc.ca/archives/categories/war-conflict/defence/norad-watching-the-skies/cruise-missile-testing-coming-to-canada.html http://www.softwar.net/bgm109.html http://www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/tomahawk/ http://www.publicintegrity.org/2011/03/25/3769/million-dollar-weapon http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2

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5 thoughts on “ Tomahawk – A Brief History of the BGM-109 ”

I have always thought it interesting that a company that professes peace has so many weapons of war at its disposal, as well as supplies much of the world with weapons of war.

THE UNITED STATES IS NOT THE ONLY user of the Tomahawk. The weapons are also in the inventories of Great Britain, the Netherlands and Spain. NOT TRUE they ordered some but cancelled the order later…they have none now

You are correct. I just confirmed that fact and revised the story. Thanks for setting the record straight.

All three new Danish warships have been built so they can be fitted with tomahawks, in the container module system, but none have been purchased

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Tomahawk at a Glance

Tomahawk Development

The U.S. Navy began its development of sea-launched cruise missiles in 1972. 2 The Tomahawk was designed to fly at subsonic speed while maintaining a low altitude, making it difficult to detect on radar. It uses tailored guidance systems to maneuver while at such low elevations.

There were three original Tomahawk designs, the nuclear-tipped TLAM-N, the ground-launched Gryphon, and the conventional TASM.

BGM-109G Gryphon

In late 1970s, the U.S. Navy sought a precision land attack cruise missile capable of a much smaller CEP. Two Block II versions were produced; the TLAM-C and the TLAM-D.

Service History

The Tomahawk was first deployed in combat in the 1991 Gulf War in Operation Desert Storm, with the first salvo launched from the USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) at Iraqi targets. 18 Overall, the mission achieved initial success.

However, before GPS guidance was implemented, the Tomahawk faced serious navigation issues in 2003’s Operation Iraqi Freedom. Due to the indistinct desert terrain in region, the missile’s TERCOM system was not adequate to guide the missile to its targets in Iraq. 19 Approximately ten Tomahawks drifted off course and crashed (”clobbered”) into the ground in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in the initial phase of Iraqi Freedom. 20

• “Tomahawk Cruise Missile,” United States Navy Fact File, August 14, 2014, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2
• “Tomahawk Cruise Missile,” United States Navy Fact File, August 14, 2014, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2.
• Sam LaGrone, “West: U.S. Navy Anti-Ship Tomahawk Set for Surface Ships, Subs Starting in 2021,” USNI News , February 18, 2016, https://news.usni.org/2016/02/18/west-u-s-navy-anti-ship-tomahawk-set-for-surface-ships-subs-starting-in-2021.
• “Tomahawk Long-Range Cruise Missile,” Naval Technology, http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/tomahawk-long-range-cruise-missile/.
• “RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk,” in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 219-223.
• “General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas BGM-109G Gryphon” National Museum of the Air Force, April 26, 2011.http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=18194.
• Missile Defense Project, “Tomahawk,” Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 19, 2016, last modified June 15, 2018, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/ .
• Fuller, Malcolm. “Tomahawk/RGM/UGM-109B/C/D/E” Jane’s Weapons: Naval. December 17, 2012.
• Department of the Navy, Naval Vessel Historical Evaluation – Paul F. Foster Final Determination (Washington, DC: 2013), https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/TeamShips/SEA21/InactiveShips/Historic/2013/EDD964-Paul-F.-Foster-Final-DOI.pdf.
• “The Tomahawk Missile’s First Mission Was Over…Iran?,” War on the Rocks, April 6, 2015, https://warisboring.com/the-tomahawk-missile-s-first-mission-was-over-iran/.
• Jeffrey Lewis, ”Why the Navy Should Retire TLAM-N,” Arms Control Wonk (blog), December 13, 2009, https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/202560/why-the-navy-should-retire-tlam-n/.
• “What is a Tomahawk Missile?” History.com, April 7, 2017, https://www.history.com/news/what-is-a-tomahawk-missile.
• NBC News, “U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base Over Chemical Weapons Attack,” NBC News, April 7, 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-launches-missiles-syrian-base-after-chemical-weapons-attack-n743636.

Everything To Know About Tomahawk Missiles: Speed, Cost, And Destructive Power

Tomahawk missiles have been world famous since the first Gulf War in 1991 when the United States used the missile against Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq and Kuwait. Since then, the missile system has been used in nearly every conflict the United States has been involved in, including recent strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Given the weapon's ubiquity, it's worth exploring what exactly a Tomahawk missile is. The United States Navy reports that over 2,300 Tomahawks have been deployed in combat, with that number increasing by the day.

According to the Missile Defense Project from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Tomahawk (full name Tomahawk Land Attack Missile) has been in service since 1983 and were first developed for the United States Navy starting in 1972. It was designed to be launched from ships or submarines and was, from the outset, made with nuclear payloads in mind. However, nuclear-armed Tomahawks have not been used in combat and are currently deactivated.

Slow and steady

The Tomahawk missile itself is a 20.3 foot long craft with a wingspan of eight and a half feet, and it weighs 3,330 pounds with all of its components. It's powered by both a rocket booster and turbofan jet engine made by Williams International. According to PBS, the rocket booster engine launches the Tomahawk in the air (hence all the smoke you may see in news broadcasts or photos you see of the missile) and then its jet engine takes the missile the rest of the way to its target.

Despite being powered by rockets and a jet engine, the Tomahawk missile itself isn't that fast, at least comparatively. It reportedly travels at a speed of around 550 miles per hour. An F-16 fighter jet tops out at 1,500 miles per hour and the much larger Minuteman III ballistic missile can reach speeds of up to 15,000 miles per hour. Supposedly, the Tomahawk's relatively low speed helps it avoid radar systems more efficiently. Additionally, it flies at an altitude of between 100 and 300 feet, much lower than conventional fighter aircraft.

Range and power

The actual payload of the Tomahawk can consist of a number of different munitions. But the primary warhead of the Tomahawk is a 1,000-pound high explosive charge. It can also carry cluster munitions consisting of small bomblets, similar to the ATACMS currently used in Ukraine . For explosive force, Tomahawks were more than enough to disable runways or sink ships.

The exact guidance system and navigational dynamics of the Tomahawk missile are classified. However, it is known that it can use GPS or inertial guidance systems to hit the target. Additionally, the U.S. Navy states that up to 15 targets can be pre-programmed for missile salvos. The Tomahawk is capable of "loitering," meaning that, provided the missile has enough fuel, it can fly around in circles to relay information or wait for the right target. It has a range of around 1,500 miles, meaning that the ship or submarine launching the missile is well out of harm's way. It is accurate to within 10 meters.

The Tomahawk's combat history

The Tomahawk is primarily made by Raytheon Missile Systems. According to budget data from the United States Marine Corps from 2022, each Tomahawk costs around $2 million. As of now, the United States and the United Kingdom are the only countries to deploy Tomahawk missiles, although Australia and Japan have put out bids to purchase Tomahawks.

The U.S. Navy states that 140 total craft are capable of launching Tomahawks. That number consists of Ohio-class submarines, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and more. The United States Army has also tested launching Tomahawks from ground-based platforms. The USS Missouri, a World War II-era battleship and the very last of its kind, was fitted to fire Tomahawks during the opening salvos of the First Gulf War. It fired a total of 28 cruise missiles, in addition to its 16-inch deck guns.

The submarines USS Louisville and USS Pittsburgh launched Tomahawks in 1991 at targets in Iraq and became the first submarines to fire Tomahawks while submerged.

Several decades of service

Outside of the Gulf War, Tomahawks were used to attack Iraq several more times in the 1990s, against Bosnian targets in 1995, during NATO actions against Yugoslavia, and during the engagements against Afghanistan after 9/11. More recently, Tomahawks saw use in Libya as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn, ISIS in Syria experienced the effects of Tomahawks, and Syrian chemical weapons facilities used by despot Bashar Al-Assad were struck by Tomahawks in 2017. In 2024, both American and British forces launched Tomahawks against Houthi rebels after the rebel group attacked shipping lanes and US-flagged vessels in the Red Sea.

Raytheon reports that the Tomahawk missile could stay in service until at least 2035. By that time, the cruise missile will have eclipsed 50 years of service. With its long range, ability to be launched practically anywhere in the world from above or below the waves, and its accuracy, the Tomahawk has proved literally thousands of times that it is a vital part of the arsenals of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy.

Recommended

This Is Not Your Father’s Tomahawk Cruise Missile

The new Block V can run down enemy ships and blast them with a half-ton high explosive warhead.

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• The new missiles can attack enemy ships at sea or land targets with a new multi-effect warhead.
• The Tomahawk design is nearly half a century old but with the help of rolling upgrades has remained a viable weapon system.

The Tomahawk cruise missile, one of the oldest missiles in U.S. military service, is set to receive a new set of capabilities designed to help keep potential enemies in check.

➡ You love badass military tech. So do we. Let's nerd out over it together.

The missile’s new Block V configuration will include both new anti-shipping and land attack variants, boosting the capabilities of the U.S. Navy surface warships that carry them.

The Tomahawk is one of the most effective missiles in the Pentagon’s history. The missile, which General Dynamics first designed in the 1970s, was one of the first truly effective cruise missiles. Unlike traditional missiles that use rocket motors, fly high altitudes, and travel at Mach 2+ speeds, cruise missiles use turbojet engines, fly at low altitudes, and travel at subsonic speeds.

Most missiles are designed to sprint to their targets; Tomahawk is designed to run a marathon. Engineers chose a liquid fuel-sipping turbojet engine because it enabled greater range than a rocket engine of roughly the same size. A slower speed also makes low altitude flight more viable, which in turn makes the missile much more difficult to detect by radar. Today, most advanced countries operate similar low-flying subsonic missiles, including Russia, China, France, and South Korea.

Despite its age, the Tomahawk has stayed in the game through a series of progressive upgrades. The original Block I version included both nuclear-tipped and anti-ship versions of the missile. Block II introduced land attack capabilities, like those demonstrated during the 1991 Gulf War, with missiles striking Iraqi Air Force airfields and daytime targets across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Block III added GPS, eliminating a time-consuming programming system that required 80 hours to plot a missile’s course as well as a loitering capability.

Block IV Tomahawks added more features, including the ability to be re-routed to new targets in mid-flight. Block IV missiles also feature a camera and datalink, allowing a missile to send imagery back to friendly forces. If a Tomahawk discovers its target already struck or civilians are crowding the target area, the missile can be re-routed to destroy something else.

Now, Block V is where it gets really interesting.

The newest variant adds upgraded navigation and communications gear to older Tomahawks, electronics that, according to Defense News , make it easier to work through electronic warfare jamming and more difficult for enemy radars to detect. That’s important, because once detected, subsonic cruise missiles are relatively easy to shoot down. Block V then forks into two missiles, Block Va and Block Vb.

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Block Va essentially turns the cruise missile into an anti-ship missile. Also known as Maritime Strike Tomahawk, Block Va adds a seeker kit, including sensor, giving it the ability to strike moving targets at sea at ranges in excess of 1,000 miles. It’s not clear if Block Va can still strike land targets.

Block Vb is more oriented toward striking land targets with the new Joint Multiple Effects Warhead (MEWS). The weapon is a bit mysterious, but it seems to be a 1,000-pound warhead capable of striking both surface and underground hardened targets, including “integrated air defense systems and weapons of mass destruction” .

The great thing about Block V is that, unlike the Navy’s current anti-ship missile, it doesn’t need separate launchers. Block Vs will fit in any Mk. 41 vertical launch system silo—the same silo that currently carries Standard anti-air missiles, the SM-3 missile interceptor, Evolved Sea Sparrow interceptor missiles, and vertical launch anti-submarine rockets.

Today’s guided missile cruisers carry 122 silos, while destroyers carry between 90 and 96 silos. Theoretically, a cruiser could carry up to 122 Block Va missiles, though a more rounded mix of all of the above is preferred. Block V will also arm U.S. Navy submarines.

Like a lot of weapons in America’s arsenal, the Tomahawk missile is old—at least in concept. What started out as a nuclear-capable missile can now hunt down warships at 1,000 miles and attack hardened underground targets. The missile’s ability to adapt with the times, take on new roles, and reinvent itself means it will be a potent weapon system for easily another decade to come.

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Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News , and others. He lives in San Francisco.

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China Was Spooked: Why the Navy Surfaced 3 Ohio-Class Missile Subs as a 'Lesson'

Summary and Key Points: China's aggressive actions in the South China Sea, including dangerous maneuvers by PLAAF pilots near American aircraft, demand a strong deterrent response from the United States. A potential strategy could involve resurfacing Ohio-class SSGNs to signal America's readiness and capability.

-These submarines, which carry 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles each, represent a significant show of force.

-A similar demonstration was made in 2010, where three Ohio-class subs surfaced in strategic locations, reminding Beijing of the U.S. Navy's global reach and strike capabilities.

Countering China: How Ohio-Class Submarines Could Deter South China Sea Aggression

China’s ongoing hostile activity towards American assets in the South China Sea could be countered with a show of force. In the last year, a People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) pilot flew within ten feet of an American B-52 bomber, putting both aircraft in danger of collision.

In another incident, a Chinese J-16 fighter performed an aggressive maneuver during the intercept of an American RC-135 airframe. The United States must deter these hostile acts from continuing.

Back in 2010, the U.S. Navy surfaced three of its Ohio-class (SSGN) guided missile submarines to show Beijing that these formidable boats could sail anywhere across the globe.

China’s naval capabilities have rapidly expanded over the last couple of decades. Between 2000-2005, the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) nearly doubled in size from 100 maritime platforms to 200.

As reported by The Martime Executive , “This tsunami of Chinese shipbuilding has tremendous potential implications for the PRC’s effort to coercively envelop Taiwan, resolve other sovereignty disputes in its favor, carve out the region as a zone of exceptionalism to international rules and norms, and project Beijing’s power and influence around the world.” As this rapid Chinese naval development was underway, Washington sent Beijing a poignant message by surfacing three of its SSGNs.

An overview of the Navy’s Ohio-Class SSGNs

The Cold War perhaps led to the world’s greatest leaps in submarine innovations in history. In this post-World War II era, American engineers prioritized developing the best of the best submarine technologies, leading to the world’s first ever nuclear-powered submarine—the Nautilus (SSN-571)—by the mid-1950s. In the following decade, the Navy developed ballistic missiles and submarine launch platforms that could be fired while the boat was submerged.

This cutting edge capability led to the commissioning of   forty-one ballistic missile subs between the late 1950s and late 1960s.

Over the next few years, the Navy would procure the first four Ohio-class ballistic missile submarines—Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and Georgia. Following the collapse of the USSR, a Nuclear Posture Review dictated that the United States only needed fourteen of its SSBNs to provide the necessary level of deterrence. To abide by the treaty guidelines, the Navy turned four of its SSBNS into SSGNS.

Today, these submarines represent more than half of the submarine force’s vertical launch payload capacity combined. Instead of carrying nuclear-tipped Trident missiles, these submarines are equipped with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles that are capable of striking targets within 1,000 miles with non-nuclear warheads.

In June 2010, USS Ohio surfaced in the Philippines’ Subic Bay. The USS Michigan was next to pop up, this time in South Korea, followed by the USS Florida in the Indian Ocean. This display of force showcased the Navy could fire as many as 462 new Tomahawks from anywhere across the globe.

There is no way that Beijing did not take notice of this tri-surfacing event. As tensions continue to spiral between Washington and Beijing, a similar strategy could help deter further hostile acts from occurring.

About the Author: Defense Expert Maya Carlin 

Maya Carlin , National Security Writer with The National Interest, is an analyst with the Center for Security Policy and a former Anna Sobol Levy Fellow at IDC Herzliya in Israel. She has by-lines in many publications, including The National Interest, Jerusalem Post, and Times of Israel. You can follow her on Twitter: @MayaCarlin . 

Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock. 

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The US Navy has an upgraded Tomahawk: Here’s 5 things you should know

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Navy test-fired its new Block V Tomahawk from the destroyer Chafee in December, introducing the newest generation of the venerable Tomahawk cruise missile to its arsenal.

The modifications are designed to bring the sub-sonic cruise missile into the era of great power competition . Why is this Tomahawk different from all other Tomahawks, and can this old Cold Warrior keep up in the era of hypersonic missiles?

Here’s five things to know about the Block V:

1. Increased capabilities. Raytheon’s Tomahawk Block V, when fully realized in its Block Va and Block Vb varieties, will be expected to hit surface ships at Tomahawk ranges – in excess of 1,000 miles – with the integration of a new seeker. It also will integrate a new warhead that will have a broader range of capabilities, including greater penetrating power.

Tomahawk’s range is especially important in the Asia-Pacific, where China’s rocket force has extraordinary reach with its DF-26 and DF-21 missiles, with ranges of 2,490 and 1,335 miles respectively, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. The missiles are destined not just for the VLS launchers of surface ships but also on attack submarines . Read more here:

The US Navy is moving to put more ship-killer missiles on submarines

Us navy submarines will soon be able to kill ships at a range of 1,000 miles..

2. More survivable. The first iteration of the Block V upgrades the missile’s communication and navigation systems. This is about making it tougher to counter and detect electronically, said Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at The Hudson Institute.

“It has greater electronic hardening to be able to work through jamming more effectively,” Clark said. “The hardening and the electronic countermeasures they’ve put into it make it harder to find and target with radar, and that improves its survivability.

“They’ve incorporated a lot of survivability into Tomahawk over the years, this takes it a step further to make it less susceptible to jamming of its seeker or its communications. But it could, perhaps, also counter enemy radar that might be used to target it and shoot it down.”

In 2017, Raytheon’s Tomahawk program manager told reporters at an event at the missile plant in Tucson, Ariz., that the navigation system upgrades will ensure the missile can strike targets even if GPS is taken down .

3. Subsonic is a feature, not a bug. With all the emphasis on supersonic and hypersonic missiles and with the improvements in air defenses, that might make Tomahawk seem like a fuddy-duddy by comparison.

But there are good reasons to keep producing the Tomahawk, even with its slower speeds.

“The benefit of the sub-sonic missile is range,” Clark said. “Being sub-sonic means its also able to travel at a more fuel-efficient speed. So, the fact that the Tomahawk can travel more than 1,000 miles is a function of the sub-sonic speed. To get that kind of range out of a super-sonic missile you’d need something much larger.”

Sailors on the destroyer Barry train on planning a Tomahawk mission. (Navy)

4. It’s cheap. Well, relatively so. The missile has been able to stay at the $1 million price range, which is on the low end for missiles. Raytheon’s supersonic SM-6 can reach speeds of Mach 3.5 – with future iterations believed to be capable of reaching hypersonic speeds – but cost more than four times as much per shot and have less range. That’s the Tomahawk’s key differentiator, said Jerry Hendrix, a retired Navy captain and analyst with Telemus Group.

“The key capability of Tomahawk is the cost.” Hendrix said. “It can be purchased in larger quantities and you can afford to lose some to defensive capabilities even as you penetrate. That’s one of the reasons why Tomahawk is going to be in the inventory for a while to come, even as it brings back that longer-range anti-ship capability that we’ve been missing for some time.”

Tom Karako, an expert in missile technology with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, agreed that cost is a big advantage of Tomahawk, especially for low-end missions.

“As long as they can keep them to about a million dollars per shot, the Navy is going to want those all day long,” Karako said. “The next time the President says to the Navy, ‘Hey, go schwack this terrorist training camp,’ they’re going to want Tomahawks.”

5. It’s all in the mix. The key to thinking about a sub-sonic cruise missile is understanding how it fits into a mix of weapons, Karako said. Not everything is going to be hypersonic or even supersonic, nor does it have to be, he argued, but the cost per salvo make it attractive as part of a varied and complex threat to present an adversary.

“The question is, ‘What’s the going to be the mix between hypersonic things and things that are supersonic and subsonic?’,” he said. “That, I think, is the right question. As long as you have standoff, subsonic and supersonic are going to be part of the equation.”

“Even for the high-end fight, I don’t think the hypersonic stuff will fully replace sub-sonic stuff. It might just mean you shoot your sub-sonic stuff earlier, let them fly for a while and everything arrives at the same time as part of how you structure an attack.”

The destroyer Dewey conducts a tomahawk missile flight test while underway in the western Pacific. (U.S. Navy photo by MC2 Devin Langer)

Clark, the Hudson analyst, agreed that the mix was important, saying that even with the arrival of faster missiles, the Tomahawk has a place.

The combination of the SM-6, which has a surface strike mode, the new 100-plus-mile ranged anti-ship Naval Strike Missile bound for the littoral combat ships and next-generation frigate, and the Block V upgrades on Tomahawk, will give the Navy’s venerable birds a place in the service’s vertical launch system cells for some time to come, Clark said.

“Between Tomahawk Block V, the SM-6 and the NSM, the Navy has a collection of attack weapons that they are happy with,” he said, adding that a long-running effort to develop a next-generation land-attack weapon has lost some of its urgency.

The development of hypersonic missiles could, however, push out the Tomahawk down the road as the technology gets more advanced and of a size compatible with the Navy’s ubiquitous Mark 41 VLS launcher.

“What’s happening in parallel is in the development of hypersonic missile that are a smaller form factor than the boost-glide weapons that are coming to maturity now,” Clark said. “And if they can get it down to being able to fit in [the Mark 41], then that could provide the Navy a next-generation capability that is more survivable and has a shorter time of flight.

“So I think this combination of missiles the Navy has now, combined with the fact that the hypersonic weapons are coming along a little further out, means the Navy is going to stick with what it has potentially even longer than it had originally anticipated.”

David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.

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On the evening of July 6, 2017, staff from the Museum removed the U.S. Navy’s Tomahawk cruise missile from display in our  Space Race gallery. The National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI) will borrow the missile on a 10-year loan for a new gallery that is scheduled to open there later this year.

For the past 30 years, the Tomahawk hung from the ceiling just a few dozen feet from the German V-1 flying bomb , or “buzz bomb,” that saw action in Europe during World War II. The V-1 and the Tomahawk, variants of which are still in service in the Navy, frame an important episode in the history of missile development in the United States. The recent deinstallation of the Tomahawk provides an opportunity to recount some of the highlights of this fascinating story of technological evolution.

Our Tomahawk is a prototype vehicle that the Convair Division of the General Dynamics Corporation built and tested on four occasions from 1976 to 1978. Launched from surface ships and submarines, operational missiles flew at 885 kilometers per hour (550 miles per hour) and used sophisticated terrain-hugging radar to cover a range of about 2,414 kilometers (1,500 miles). Capable of carrying conventional explosives or a nuclear warhead, the Tomahawk represented the state-of-the art in pilotless aircraft technology after it entered service in the 1980s.

It had not started out that way when the U.S Army Air Forces brought back downed V-1s from Europe and re-engineered them for use in combat late in World War II. The Army abandoned these plans in favor of using limited resources for other conventional weapons deemed more urgent for the war effort. The Navy, however, studied the V-1 and built a duplicate version called the JB-2 Loon for testing on submarines. From 1945 to 1950, Loon cruise missiles flew off the decks of submarines, but their poor accuracy and unreliability prevented their entrance into the active inventory. The Navy canceled the program and moved on to the more sophisticated Regulus I cruise missile . The first operational nuclear-armed missile capable of being launched from a submarine, the Regulus I entered service in 1954 and remained on alert until replaced by the solid-fuel Polaris submarine-launched ballistic missile in the early 1960s. 

With the introduction of the Polaris, cruise missiles disappeared from the Navy in favor of long-range ballistic missiles, only to return in the 1970s with the Tomahawk. Unlike the Loon and the Regulus, which were cumbersome and slow to launch, the advanced radar and turbofan engine technology available in the 1970s made the Tomahawk an especially versatile and effective weapon system. President Ronald Reagan thought so, and he re-activated four World War II-era Iowa -class battleships (the Missouri , New Jersey , Wisconsin , and Iowa ), and the Navy fitted their already formidable weapons arrays with Tomahawk missile batteries. 

The Air Force followed the same strategy as the Navy in the 1950s, developing cruise missile technology until a series of technological breakthroughs in rocket propulsion and warhead design prompted an abrupt switch to long-range ballistic missiles, such as the Atlas, Titan, and Minuteman. Unlike the Navy, however, the Air Force kept a hand in cruise missile technology. Early systems, such as the Matador, Snark, and the ambitious Navaho, lived on in newer operational versions like the Hound Dog, which flew aboard B-52 long-range strategic bombers .  Then, in the 1970s, the Air Force debuted the Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) that bore a close resemblance in performance and capabilities to the Tomahawk.   Like the Tomahawk, the ALCM is still in the Air Force inventory today.

While the Tomahawk is on loan to the National Museum of the American Indian, visitors to the National Air and Space Museum can view our rich collection of cruise missiles on display at the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia . Visitors can see the JB-2 Loon , the Regulus 1 , the Matador , and the test and operational versions of the Air Force’s Air Launched Cruise Missile . And do not forget to visit the National Museum of the American Indian to see the Tomahawk when it goes on display. 

We rely on the generous support of donors, sponsors, members, and other benefactors to share the history and impact of aviation and spaceflight, educate the public, and inspire future generations.  With your help, we can continue to preserve and safeguard the world’s most comprehensive collection of artifacts representing the great achievements of flight and space exploration.

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In Germany, plan to deploy US cruise missiles draws opposition

The Ticonderoga class cruiser USS Antietam fires a Tomahawk land attack missile as part of Valiant Shield 2014. Germany is grappling with public anxiety and political opposition over the planned deployment of U.S. longer-range cruise missiles, with concerns about escalating tensions with Russia and reviving Cold War-era fears. (David Flewellyn/U.S. Navy)

BERLIN — In the months leading up to the deployment of American Pershing II and cruise missiles in West Germany in the early 1980s, the country erupted in mass protest.

Anti-missile demonstrators blockaded U.S. military installations and some turned their ire directly at American troops, carrying banners reading, “Ami [Yankee] go home” and shouting “We don’t like you” at Americans driving to Ramstein Air Base, according to Stars and Stripes reporting at the time.

Now Germans are grappling with another divisive deployment: the return of U.S. longer-range cruise missiles to German soil for the first time since the 1990s. Last month’s announcement of the stationing, set to begin in 2026, has stirred painful memories of the Cold War and raised anxiety among some of the possibility of a new arms race with Russia.

Surveys show a narrow majority of Germans are against the plans, with negative attitudes especially pronounced in states of the former East Germany. Half of Germans said they fear the missiles will escalate conflict with Russia, findings by the opinion research company Civey show.

Falko Drossmann, a German lawmaker with the ruling Social Democratic Party and a former air force officer, said detractors have legitimate concerns but cautioned that nerves are particularly on edge ahead of regional elections next month in three eastern German states.

“At the moment, it’s not a very fact-based discussion, it’s a very emotional discussion,” he said. “I can’t condemn the people because they just see what it costs, how many people can get killed and they don’t want to be a part of a poker game.”

The party’s executive committee on Monday sought to calm nerves with a lengthy explanation of why Germany needed to bolster its security architecture in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“This deployment is not a confrontational armament, but rather a strengthening of our country’s defense and the alliance capability of NATO and the EU with weapons systems that Russia has had at its disposal for years,” the committee wrote.

It vowed to take a “comprehensive look” at the issue when Germany’s parliament, the Bundestag, returns from summer break in September.

Political objection to the deployment so far has mostly come from Germany’s fringe parties on the left and right.

Alternative for Germany, the far-right party that opposes weapon delivers to Ukraine and has been accused of cozying up to Russia, said the stationing plans made Germany “a target” while leftists argued it could lead to an arms race under the guise of deterrence.

Some members of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party, a center-left group with longtime ties to Russia, have also expressed worries.

Lawmaker Ralf Stegner told the Funke media group that “this will not make the world safer. On the contrary, we are entering a spiral in which the world is becoming increasingly dangerous.”

Russia has warned of irreparable damage to German-Russian relations if the deployment goes through. President Vladimir Putin last month threatened to place similar missiles within striking distance of the West and he pointedly evoked the Cold War, specifically mentioning the controversial Pershing deployments.

Analysts say comparisons to the arms buildup of the 1980s are overblown.

“The deployment is very small, it’s non-nuclear,” said Liviu Horovitz, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. “The only similarities is that the missiles reach similarly far.”

The deal includes Tomahawk cruise missiles with a reach of up to 1,550 miles, SM-6 ballistic missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons that can probably fly more than 1,800 miles, according to an analysis by the think tank.

Germany does not have long-range missiles that launch from the ground and NATO’s longest-range ground-based weapon now is the Army Tactical Missile System, which can fly up to 190 miles.

A 1987 treaty between the Soviet Union and the U.S. banned ground-based missiles with a range of more than 310 miles but the U.S. withdrew from the agreement in 2019, accusing Moscow of violations.

None of the planned missiles will be equipped with nuclear warheads, though that has not stopped Russia from raising the alarm that they eventually could be.

“It’s not like it’s impossible to adapt them to nuclear use,” said Horovitz. “From the Russian perspective, the fact that you can is already potentially problematic.”

The Social Democratic Party said there are no plans for nuclear armament of the arriving weapons systems, which will be stationed at existing U.S military facilities in western Germany.

As such, the public backlash that accompanied the deployment of nuclear-capable Pershing II ballistic missiles in the 1980s is unlikely to materialize this time around, said Timothy Wright, a research associate at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin.

“The security threat that Russia poses to Europe is evident and the requirement for European countries to better manage their own security may have reduced such qualms,” he said.

German military officials have pointed out that Russia has already upended weapons norms by stationing Iskander missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads in Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave bordering NATO members Poland and Lithuania.

Drossmann, the lawmaker, said the U.S. deployment will give Germany time to develop its own weapons and convince a skeptical populace of their value.

“We all want a world where [these missiles] are not necessary but Putin brought us here and that’s why we have to defend ourselves,” he said.

Much of the persuasive work will have to be done in eastern Germany, where 75% of citizens said it is “not right” to deploy U.S. missiles in their country, according to a recent survey by the opinion polling firm Forsa.

Drossmann said people in the former East Germany, a Soviet-allied Communist country, doubt the military and the U.S. more than in the former West Germany, where American and British soldiers were ubiquitous and a normal part of life.

But Drossmann believes those differences can ultimately be overcome with education and outreach.

“We have to explain to them, we have to convince them, we have to be more out in the country and talk to people,” he said. “In my opinion, if you explain it to the people, the vast majority will support it. But that’s what we still have to do.”

previous coverage

• US hypersonic weapons, Tomahawk units to be based in Germany, White House announces during NATO summit

related stories

• ‘A massive deterrent’: Poland buys 96 Apache helicopters as training ties with US Army grow

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The navy’s ‘rhinos’ grew a longer horn. does a new missile affect u.s.-china military balance.

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Large AIM-174B missile visibly protruding from under the right wing of an F/A-18E Super Hornet jet ... [+] fighter on the deck of carrier USS Carl Vinson prior to takeoff for an exercise. In July the Navy confirmed this mysterious weapon's designation as the AIM-174B.

On July 22, "60 Minutes Australia" broadcast footage from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson of two F-18 Hornet jets preparing to take off. One of the fighters from Squadron 192 was carrying the mysterious new U.S. AIM-174B missile for a mission during the largest-ever version of the Naval Training RIMPAC, in which the United States is preparing for the possibility of a highly destructive war with China.

The United States has waited more than three decades to field an entirely new type of long-range air-to-air missile, and actually retired its previous longest-range air-to-air weapon—the Navy’s AIM-54C Phoenix missile—in 2004, followed two years later by the F-14 Tomcat fighters designed to carry them.

The big, expensive and far-reaching AIM-54 Phoenix missile (under the center fuselage of this F-14 ... [+] jet) was developed for the U.S. Navy during the Cold War. The Phoenix, combined with the powerful AWG-9 radar on carrier-based F-14 Tomcat fighters, were to work in tandem to detect and attack formations of Soviet bombers and missiles from as great a distance as possible before they could close within effective attack range of U.S. carriers.

The AIM-174B first appeared on the wings of F/A-18E Super Hornet (also nicknamed the “Rhino”) on July 2, 2024, when one was photographed taxiing at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii as a part of the RIMPAC exercise under US Pacific Command. Technically, several of the rounds spotted were test rounds (XAIM-74B and NAIM-174B) or captive-carry rounds (CATM- or DATM-174B).

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The weapon is an Air Launched Configuration (ALC) of the ship-launched RIM-174 Standard Missile-6 (SM-6), a big weapon weighing 1.6 tons with two solid fuel rockets that can propel it from inside a ship’s vertical launch system to reach targets 230 miles away or over 110,000 feet high traveling at up to 3.5 times the speed of sound.

The destroyer USS John Paul Jones launches an SM-6 (RIM-174) missile in test of its Aegis Combat ... [+] System—one of four launched in a series of tests in June 2014. Note the protruding Mk72 booster on the missile's tail—equipment removed from the air-launched AIM-174 variant.

In the missile’s combat debut last winter, SM-6s fired by U.S. destroyers on the Red Sea repeatedly smacked down fast, high-flying anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by Houthi rebels in Yemen, preventing any from striking U.S. warships.

The air-launched AIM-174B, however, is shorter because the Mk.72 rocket booster behind the tail fins was removed. Yet this truncated weapon still dwarfs the long-range AIM-120 missile ordinarily carried by Super Hornets (see photo below), though they share the same active radar seeker to home in on their target.

“The AIM-174B fits within a wider effort by the United States to develop and field longer range air-to-air missiles than the AIM-120D3 AMRAAM for the US Air Force and US Navy,” Professor Justin Bronk, a Senior Research Fellow for Airpower at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) wrote to the authors.

“This also includes the AIM-260 JATM project which is primarily for the US Air Force. These missiles are intended to regain the US first-shot advantage in beyond-visual-range engagements that has been challenged in recent years by the Chinese PL-15 (CH-AA-10) and still-developing PL-21 (CH-AA-X-12).”

A Chinese J-20 stealth fighter opens its weapon bays, revealing long-range PL-15 missiles contained ... [+] within on November 11, 2018 at the Zhuhai Airshow.

While the AIM-120D is estimated to reach 110 miles, China’s quarter-ton PL-15 radar-guided missile is estimated to remain effect somewhere between 124 and 190 miles. The newer, larger PL-17 missile is thought to be a 250-mile-class weapon.

The AIM-174’s exact characteristics are unknown, though the Navy has confirmed it can at least reach 130 nautical miles (150 miles). The removal of the additional booster reduces the energy propelling the missile, but the speed and altitude boost air-launched missiles receive usually enable maximum ranges exceeding those of surface-launched equivalents. If that holds, the AIM-174’ maximum range might exceed 230 miles, more than doubling the Super Hornet’s maximum anti-aircraft range.

Of course, technical capabilities don’t by themselves guarantee superiority.

“The introduction into service of the AIM-174B for the US Navy, and soon the AIM-260 for the US Air Force will not in themselves ensure air superiority against China,” Bronk cautions, “just as the PL-15 and PL-21 do not give China the automatic ability to gain air superiority against the US or US allies. However, restoring rough parity in effective reach for long range air-to-air missiles is important for the US in reducing an area where China had established a technical advantage in the air domain.”

Not just bigger missiles, but broader networks

The adaptation of the SM-6 is a sensible because it’s already popular amongst U.S. Navy surface combatant commanders for air defense. It’s highly versatile—able to engage airplanes, ballistic missiles and even surface targets (leading to its adoption into Army Typhon missile batteries in that role).

It also can be employed under the Naval Integrated Fire Control-Counter Air (NIFC-CA) concept, which requires unprecedented integration of every unit in the air, on the surface, or under water through datalinks so the carrier strike group (CSG) can form a shared common picture of the battle-space.

This allows cooperative engagement capability (CEC), meaning that the ship or plane that fires the missiles doesn’t necessarily need to ‘see’ its target on radar if another ship or plane in the network can, and is able to relay targeting data and guidance updates while the missile is midcourse, ie. before the missile is close enough to its target to rely on its own built-in short-range radar for guidance.

The integration of F-35C stealth aircraft into this concept was a significant step toward increasing the efficiency of tracking and monitoring threats by operating in a forward position near enemy formations in stealth mode or challenging enemy continuous tracking, as well as integrating with E-2D Airborne Early Warning and Control (AEW&C) aircraft and the rest of the naval warship equipped with the Aegis Combat System.

Though an F-35C is unlikely to carry an AIM-174B missiles—it’s too large to conceal in its internal weapons bay—this stealth jet might scout ahead and quietly locate enemy aircraft, then relay targeting data to Super Hornets operating a safer distance back to allow them to execute AIM-174 shots.

U.S. Navy F-35C at the Atlanta Air Show in May 2021. The catapult-launched F-35C must stick to ... [+] internally stowed missiles to retain its stealth characteristics, but its combination of stealth and sensors could make it ideal to scout out targets for more distant Super Hornets laden with heavier weapons, like the AIM-174B, to attack via Cooperative Engagement Capability.

An important caveat: an anti-aircraft missile’s given maximum range is calculated on the basis of optimal circumstances which are rarely realized operationally due to divergences in target trajectory, speed and altitude. Constraints to radar detection range also typically interfere, unless offset by networking as described above.

Longer-range missile shots also usually have reduced kill probability due to drop-off in missile velocity over distance, and the additional time and space a forewarned target has to evade.

How China developed some of the world’s most powerful air-to-air missiles

The People's Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) embrace of beyond visual range warfare was spurred by its studies of western combat doctrine, which sought to achieve complete air superiority over the battlefield to enable the rest of the combat formations to carry out missions without risk of air attack.

Particularly, the rapid neutralization of Iraq’s air force by Western airpower during the 1991 Gulf War and subsequent disintegration of Saddam Hussein’s large ground army under sustained air attacks, left a deep impression on the People Liberation Army.

Western doctrine relied on combat aircraft with advanced sensors and fire control systems as well as diverse and lethal armament with a longer range than the opponent's. So the PLAAF tried to find the necessary technologies to contest this qualitative superiority, including long-range air-to-air missiles, but China’s initial indigenously developed missiles were not up to the task.

However, by the 2010s China had developed improved missiles outranging US missiles, theoretically with the aim of denying US aircraft from approaching and entering the theater— especially high-value assets (HVAs) such as airborne early warning (AEW) , refueling, and Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft that lack the agility to easily evade long-range attacks.

Importantly, China also surged far ahead of Russia in fielding AESA phased-array radars—the current gold standard in air-to-air warfare, due to their high resolution, jam-resistance, ability to multi-task, and (in some cases) stealthiness.

Two PLA Air Force J-16 fighters armed with four PL-15 missiles on fuselage racks and one oversized ... [+] PL-17 missile on the left wing. The remaining weapons are PL-10 short and PL-12 medium/long-range missiles.

Nonetheless, in the fall of 2022 Russian fighters demonstrated they could detect and track Ukrainian jets and attempt to shoot them down at great distance by combining tracking from airborne early warning (AEW) aircraft and long-range ground radars with long-range R-37M missiles fired from fighter planes. Though a Ukrainian fighter given forewarning had decent odds of dodging long shots, the necessary evasive maneuvers forced them to abort whatever mission they were engaged in.

Given that China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) was not as isolated as its Russian ally, China had taken steps to become more familiar with Western air warfare technology and tactics, not only through intelligence means, but also through aerial exercises such as Anatolian Eagle and Shahin with Turkey and Pakistan respectively and most importantly Thailand’s Falcon Strike annually since 2015. That also gave the PLAAF a chance to evaluate its own systems and doctrine.

Initially, the PLAAF was shocked by the poor performance of their combat tactics and Russian-origin Su-27/J-11 fighters when facing Thailand’s Swedish Gripen-C fighters armed with AIM-120 missile and superior radars in beyond-visual range combat.

What encouraged the PLAAF in subsequent exercises is that they insisted on participating with various types of fighters and strengthening them with AEW aircraft to train for offensive counter-air (OCA) operations with newer long range missiles allowing them to form an effective kill chain—a kill chain the AIM-174B missile is likely intended to break.

US planners likely don’t intend to employ the AIM-174 the same way Russia has in Ukraine and China envisions doing on the Pacific, because this will simply lead to an inefficient exchange of missiles at long distance—inefficent because agile fighter aircraft are likely to evade long-range missiles through self-defense systems, electronic warfare, and even complex aerial maneuvers like the "Crank."

Instead, the Navy likely wants this high-performance missile to be used effectively in smaller numbers against targets it can ensure a high Kill Probability (KP) against using relayed targeting data.

One of Sun Tzu most important aphorisms goes “The way to avoid what is strong is to strike what is weak.” In fact, this pertains to a use case for the high-value AIM-174B missiles. For offensive operations, the PLAAF may send various formations of fighters and bombers beyond its local airspace (and air defenses) to carry out strikes, relying heavily on tfighter formations to achieve complete air superiority over the operations sectors.

China’s long-range missiles would play an important role relying on assistance from the growing fleet of early warning planes, including KJ-series ‘flying radars’ and diverse modified Y-8 and Y-9 electronic support ‘special mission’ aircraft.

Shaanxi A KJ-500 airborne early warning plane (based on the Y-9 transport plane) flies prior to the ... [+] 2021 Zhuhai airshow. Its radar dome contains three phased-array AESA radars providing 360-degree coverage. The KJ-500 is complimented in PLAAF service with KJ-2000 and KJ-3000 aircraft based on the Russian Il-76 cargo jet, and smaller KJ-200 aircraft using a 'beam' shaped radar.

Thus, neutralizing these not-so-agile enabler aircraft will be a top priority for the US Navy by means of accurate and long-range missiles receiving targeting information from multiple platforms. Once PLAAF high value assets are neutralized, the tactical formations may collapse, especially with the Navy's capabilities in intensive electronic jamming possibly compelling to abort mission.

Strategically, the presence of AIM-174B missiles may change PLAAF strategy by limiting the ability of slower, more vulnerable aircraft to operate beyond friendly airspace and the coverage of ground-basd air defenses, and compel the PLAAF to develop defensive systems and tactics to deal with them. However, in combat pilots often find it difficult to rely entirely only on self-defense systems to evade missiles, which can negatively impact morale.

In terms of defensive applications, a shortcoming is that the F/A-18 can be loaded with ‘only’ two AIM-174Bs due to its high cost and weight. But these could serve as a winning card to keep on the hand for use against unusual threats due to their flexibility, able to intercept manned fighters, cruise missiles and drones, or even targeted at surface targets.

The presence of the AIM-174 missile may also affect rules of engagement (ROE) in the Pacific theater, in parallel with the US Navy's growing capabilities in ISR platforms, whether manned or unmanned and on the air and sea.

The missile’s rapid and unexpected entry into U.S. service in 2024 may also force the PLAAF to revise its concept of operations sooner than planned, and potentially compel more conservative deployment of valuable special mission aircraft in a wartime contingency.

This piece was co-authored by S é bastien Roblin (see below) and Mena Adel , a writer on military aviation for Scramble magazine and Egypt’s Al-Ahram Weekly , quoted in Pitsi, Newsweek, Popular Mechanics, The Warzone, France 24, Al-Arabiya and Sky News.

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News | As tensions rise, San Diego-based carrier USS…

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News | As tensions rise, San Diego-based carrier USS Abraham Lincoln will speed up en route to Middle East

The lincoln and its support ships could provide help to israel if it were attacked by iran..

The carrier — currently in the Indo-Pacific — left San Diego July 11 and is operating as the flagship of a carrier strike group that includes the destroyers USS Spruance and USS O’Kane, which also are homeported in San Diego. Destroyers typically carry Tomahawk cruise missiles while on deployment.

The 1,092-foot Lincoln has its own firepower, including a squadron of F-35C Lightning II jets from Marine Corps Air Station Miramar. It is the first carrier to feature Marine F-35Cs, which are known for their speed and stealth. The ship also is carrying a squadron of MH-60S helicopters from Naval Air Station North Island.

Carriers usually carry 60 to 70 aircraft, ranging from fighter jets to transport planes to helicopters.

The $5 billion Lincoln has deployed to the Middle East many times, including in 2003 when it delivered some of the initial air strikes of the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

It is common for the Navy to have a submarine in the vicinity of a carrier battle group during deployment. But the Pentagon did not say whether that is currently the case with the Lincoln strike group.

It did say that it has separately dispatched the submarine USS Georgia to the Middle East to help defend Israel. Georgia is a Trident-class ballistic sub capable of stocking missiles with nuclear warheads.

The Lincoln will replace the San Diego-based carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt, which has been operating in the Red Sea. The Pentagon said the Roosevelt will then return home.

The “TR,” as it is widely known, has been traveling with several ships, including the San Diego-based cruiser Lake Erie and the destroyer Halsey, also from San Diego. The carrier also is stocked with MH-60 and MH-60R helicopters from Naval Air Station North Island.

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