The US Navy is expanding the Tomahawk missile family. Yesterday, November 3, the portal navalnews.com He reported that the command of the US Navy has signed a contract with Raytheon Missiles & Defense for the small-scale production of Maritime Strike Tomahawk Block Va missiles.
Tomahawk Block Va - further development of fifth-generation cruise missiles. From the basic version of Block V, the new Tomahawk will differ in increased capabilities for hitting mobile surface targets. Also in the future, it is planned to produce the Tomahawk Block Vb with advanced capabilities for hitting ground targets.
Launch of the Tomahawk Block V missile from the destroyer USS Chafee
Image source: navalnews.com
Tomahawk missiles were adopted by the US Army in 1983 and have been modified several times. In addition to the ship version, there are "Tomahawks" of underwater, land-based and air-based, which can carry warheads of various types. The cost of one rocket is about $1.5 million. It is known that Tomahawk missiles have been used for combat purposes 2,300 times during their service. It is planned that the Tomahawks will remain in service with the US army at least until 2040.
The development of Tomahawk missiles of the Block IV modification was previously suspended due to the high cost of the program, moreover, its closure was reported. However, later it became known that a new generation of Tomahawks was created and successfully tested. The main difference between the Block IV modification from previous developments is the ability to track the movement of the target in real time and change the target after the launch of the rocket. The Tomahawk missiles of the Block IV modification also differ from their predecessors with a more economical engine, which allowed to increase the flight range to 1850 km. Last year it became known that the Ministry of Defense ordered the modernization of all released Block IV modification missiles to the Block V version. There is no detailed information about the 5th generation missiles, but it is known that the Block V modification has improved navigation and communication.
