The Future of the Combat Tested Tomahawk - New Navy Tomahawk Can Hit Moving Targets at Sea
KRIS OSBORN
Yesterday at 10:52 AM
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.
Navy officials said all 59 Tomahawk missiles performed as expected during the recent attack on Sryian targets against aircraft, shelters, ammunition supply bunkers and air defense systems.
Launch and attack flexibility, along with rapid-response time, were key elements contributing to the success of the attacks, Navy experts said.
"We were operating in international waters. Being forward-deployed on our platforms, Tomahawks provide an ability on short notice to give the national leadership options in accord with national policy," Capt. Paul Stader, Director, Plans and Policy, told Scout Warrior in an interview.
In a manner consistent with the attacks on Syrian airfields, Tomahawk missiles have a history of being used to destroy "fixed" target locations such as enemy bunkers, airfields, command and control systems and building locations. They are often the first weapon to attack and will likely remain so as they evolve into the future. Current state of the art Tomahawks, called Block IV, have some technical innovations making them even more effective.
Looking to the future, the Navy is also 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, officials said.
"Tomahawk is a weapon we have evolved. It is not the same as it was 20-years ago and can really minimize collateral damage because of precision," Stader said.
A Navy statement said the US took extraordinary measures to avoid civilian casualties and to comply with the Law of Armed Conflict.
"Every precaution was taken to execute this strike with minimal risk to personnel at the airfield," the statement continued.
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,” the Navy Tomahawk Program Manager, told Scout Warrior last year.
The Navy’s 2017 budget request included $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),” the official 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.
“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 last year.
A semi-active or passive seeker relies upon the transmission of a signal from a ship-based illuminator – whereas an active seeker is able to forward transmit and electromagnetic seeker and analyze the return in order to locate changing or fast moving targets.
“Active seekers fundamentally transmit and look for a return as opposed to a semi-active seeker where you have an off-board illuminator. All of those are options that you can pick depending upon the threat environment.
An active seeker actually transmits some amount of power into the desired area and looks for returns from that,” Adams added.
Technology which allows the Tomahawk, which is fired from both surface ships and submarines, to strike moving targets brings substantial tactical and strategic advantages.
“You can launch a Tomahawk and make a decision that there is a higher priority target to go after – if troops on the ground are calling for air support, you can communicate with the missile. I can communicate to the missile faster and faster and keep providing the missile with GPS coordinates as the missile is moving. I have to have surveillance assets and determine the target’s position and feed that into the network. That data is then fed to the Tomahawk as a re-target,” Adams said.
Adams said that Raytheon developers are enthusiastic about a captive carry test of the new seeker wherein the technology was placed on the nose of a surrogate aircraft at the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, China Lake, Calif.
