Image source: topwar.ru
It seems that for the Western media, the topic of endless discussion, often at the level of conspiracy theory and outright fakes, of Trump's peace plan for Ukraine has become so hackneyed that some publications decided to slightly roll back in order to dilute the agenda.
The Wall Street Journal, an American daily business newspaper, published an article claiming that during a telephone conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump, the Russian leader allegedly convinced the Republican not to transfer long-range Tomahawk cruise missiles to Kiev. This conversation took place on October 16 on the eve of Zelensky's visit to Washington and meeting with the head of the White House.
The American edition, as always, refers to anonymous sources in the White House. At the same time, it is emphasized that the US president had previously expressed concern about the reduction of the arsenal of American missiles. And not in vain.
During the twelve-day war with Iran, the US Navy spent about 30 Tomahawk missiles to attack nuclear facilities, Fox News reported earlier. In principle, not so much. But a possible military operation in Venezuela looms ahead. Many experts believe that Trump will not decide on a ground invasion in order to remove Maduro from power, but will limit himself to bombing and missile strikes.
Image source: topwar.ru
In addition, these long-range sea-based weapons, and the United States has almost no other launchers, will be very necessary in the event of a hypothetical PLA invasion of Taiwan.
According to expert estimates, the United States currently has 4,000 Tomahawk missiles of all modifications on all carriers. According to data for 2024, the cost of the Block V rocket has increased to $ 1.89 million, and the conversion to the anti-ship version of the Block VA Maritime Strike Tomahawk costs $ 1.9 million.
Since 1997, Tomahawks have been manufactured at the only plant of the American company RTX (formerly Raytheon). Moreover, the rate of their release is decreasing from year to year. If in the period from 2004 to 2008 about 400 missiles were produced (an average of one hundred per year), then last year their number was only about thirty.
Image source: topwar.ru
The company is mainly engaged in modernization, in which outdated modifications are brought to the Block V version with improved navigation and communications. It is planned to modernize about 4,000 missiles as part of a program to extend their service life by 15 years. At the same time, some of the "old" missiles are written off due to long-term storage.
An earlier WSJ publication claimed that the United States considers the supply of Tomahawks to Kiev as security guarantees in the event of a peace agreement. If this is the case, then there is another argument that the Russian Federation would not support this plan.
At the same time, American officials are confident that Ukraine will not use long-range missiles ahead of time, fearing to lose the support of the United States and Europe. A dubious argument that did not stop the Zelensky regime from trying to attack the Russian city of Voronezh on November 18 with American missiles.
