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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:

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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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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.

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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.

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us?

• 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.

Now Watch This:

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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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.

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. 

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Tomahawk vs. kalibr: which cruise missile is more powerful.

Tomahawk Vs. Kalibr

Since the 1990s, the United States has relied on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from their warships and submarines . The missile, with a flight capability of 550 miles per hour, has been involved in wars in the Middle East, North Africa, the former Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan.

The USS Merrill (DD-976) , an American destroyer ship, launched the first cruise missile in March 1980. in June of the same year, the UGM 109, the underwater version of the Tomahawk system, ran an Armament test. 

The development of the military project lasted for two more years until 1983, when the missile system passed into service. The tomahawk cruise missiles were first used in Iraq in 1991 and symbolized the American idea of non-contact warfare.

When the U.S. first tried out the tomahawk missiles during the Operation Desert Storm , the Western media strongly praised its combat results.

However, in 1992 the New York Times And The Washington Post published an official report on the U.S. Department of Defense which described the lessons learned by the U.S. military during  

the Gulf War and showed the real state of events, including the true capabilities of the Tomahawk. Tomahawks can strike targets at distances over a thousand miles away, making them very popular. However, now the Tomahawk has a strong competitor from Russia, The Kalibr.

The capacity to strike distant strategic targets deep within the land is seen as a crucial and differentiated capability for naval power.

It was assumed that only the United States and the United Kingdom possessed such technology before 2015 when the Tomahawk cruise missile was developed. But now, it’s not just the U.S. and U.K. that can engage targets with cruise missiles at extreme ranges.

Russian military forces first used the Kalibr missile system in Syria. The missiles were launched from warships and submarines at stationary targets .on October 7, 2015, the Russian Gepard-class frigates Dagestan and the three small bouillon class Corvettes sailing in the Caspian Sea fired 26 missiles at 11 Isis Targets in three Syrian governance, Araka, Idlib, and Aleppo.

The target distance was over 1500 kilometers; the targets included weapon factories, command centers, ammunition warehouses, weapons storage fuel Depots, and terrorist training camps. On November 20, 2015, the Caspian Fleet warships launched another 18-Kalibr cruise missiles at seven terrorist Targets in the same region.

The Kalibr missile system has been tested in real combat conditions; it is too early to estimate the cost of one missile and one launch, but the new Russian cruise missile has shown strong potential.

Missiles are currently deployed on Russian Navy kilo class submarines and more modern types, including the Akula Lada and Yasin classes.

They are also used on frigates and corvettes , although larger ships have not yet had them installed. Destroyers can carry many more missiles than Russian frigates, such as the Gephardt class, which only has eight Kalibr missiles.

There are a dozen or more Kalibr missile versions, each with its own unique launch platform, range, Target profile, and speed, and each carrying either a 990-pound Warhead or a nuclear payload.

The 3m14t and 3m14k land attack variants lack the Terminal approach Boost to Mach 3. Inertia-guided missiles have a range of 1000–1500 kilometers and use INS GPS and digital scene matching area correlation Dsmac to compare onboard camera images with recorded ones.

The Russian Navy will upgrade three M14 Kalibr cruise missiles to the Kalibr M version, which has a maximum shooting range of around 4,500 kilometers.

Now let’s see the Tomahawk missile.

The United States Navy and Royal Navy rely heavily on the Tomahawk, a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Tomahawk cruise missiles may use their inertial navigation systems to get where they need to go. GPS allows for pinpoint hits, travels at low altitudes, and can be reprogrammed mid-flight to alter its target direction.

When a cruise missile deviates from its intended course, this device compares the ground below it to the maps kept on board. Target in Flight delay, loiter option, and battle damage assessment over a two-way data link allow for the storage of up to 15 alternate pre-programmed targets prior to flight or acceptance of a new target.

Once a Tomahawk reaches its target, it can send back reconnaissance photos through Satcom to headquarters, where it will wait for further instructions.

Digital scene mapping from DSMAC allows it to wait around until the target is safe to engage. Tomahawk can be instructed to locate and track a single Target within a certain area by uploading a photo of that Target.

Block 5 upgrades to Tomahawk include:

• A redesigned Seeker can target surface targets over a thousand miles away with more penetrating force.
• Less susceptibility to jamming of its Seeker.
• Improved communication and navigation to strike the Target even if GPS is down.

The question is, which cruise missile is more powerful, Tomahawk or Kalibr?

The Kalibr Suite was made to be better than the U.S.’s many but old Tomahawk cruise missiles. Whereas the original Kalibr 3m14 and the tomahawks Block 4 of Revision were about the same in terms of performance, with a slight edge in favor of Kalibr.

Kalibr M drastically outranges its U.S. counterpart at 4500 against 1700 kilometers. The 3m14t and its relatives have a substantial advantage over the American-made Tomahawk since they may be fired from a greater variety of smaller ships.

Yet, the fact that it is being designed to be fired from stationary ground installations may lack the existing Tomahawk’s sophisticated loitering and interactive data link capabilities; however, this may make it easier and cheaper to mass produce.

In addition to Parts commonality with family variants.where Tomahawk likely outclasses Kalibr’s ECM capability. While Tomahawk’s four-block Revision included electronic countermeasures, the kalibr family is especially vulnerable when it comes to being jammed. Still, Tomahawk has strengthened its defenses with the addition of Block 5 to its modification process.

As far as network capabilities go, it outstrips even the most advanced cruise missiles in use. Given our current level of expertise, it would be futile to compare the two missiles based on their Kalibr alone. The Tomahawk has been used successfully in a battle for 30 years. Alternatively, the Kalibr didn’t appear until 2012.

Tomahawks are known for their pinpoint accuracy thanks to constant upgrades and improvements, but Russia doesn’t disclose the precision or reliability of its atomic missiles. In any case, the addition of large-Kalibr cruise missiles to the Russian Navy’s arsenal has increased its strategic potential.

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What is the Maritime Strike Tomahawk cruise missile?

The Tomahawk cruise missile has been in service since the 1980s but continuously upgraded to the new Block V variants, which includes an anti-ship missile capability.

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Reports that the US Navy will begin operating an anti-surface variant of the Tomahawk cruise missile from its submarines in 2024, known as the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST), have highlighted the development of a lesser-known variant of the long-serving munition, which entered service in the 1980s.

According to office of the US Director, Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) in 2017 the US Navy issued an acquisition strategy for a series of incremental upgrades to the Tactical Land Attack Missile (TLAM) Block IV to develop an anti-ship capability. The upgrades would develop the Block IV TLAM into the MST variant, to aspirational reach initial operational capability (IOC) in FY2022.

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Manufacturer RTX states that beginning in 2020, the US Navy would recertify and modernise the missile, extending its service life by 15 years, and resulting in the new Tomahawk Block V series; the Block V, a modernised version with upgraded navigation and communication; the Block Va which has the ability to strike moving targets at sea, the MST variant; and the Block Vb, which features a joint multi-effects warhead that can hit a more diverse land targets than the standard Block V.

US military services have been keen to introduce the new Block V into their inventories, with a series of contracts providing industrial impetus for RTX and its supplier base.

In August it was reported that RTX , formerly Raytheon, secured a $124.2m contract worth to enhance the capabilities of Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) missiles for the US Navy. The developmental MST seeker suites are a component of the weapon’s recertification process, currently underway with the Low-Rate Production Three initiative.

In 2022, RTX, then Raytheon Technologies, was awarded a $217.1m fixed-price-incentive, firm-fixed-price contract for the full-rate production of Block V Tactical Tomahawk missiles, to be delivered to the US Navy, US Marine Corps, and US Army.

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Further back, in August 2019 Raytheon received a $349m contract for phase two of the MST Rapid Deployment Capability to improve the Tomahawk cruise missile system.

The Tomahawk is a key weapons system manufactured by RTX, which has sought to maintain its relevance in the evolving battlespace through spiral development and upgrades. As a result, RTX garners a considerable share of the global missile market, partly as a result of the famed TLAM.

According to GlobalData’s “The Global Missiles & Missile Defense Systems Market 2023-2033” report, 22.0% of the North American missiles and missile defence systems market is owned by RTX, which is projected to be the second largest shareholder in the region.

International appeal of the Block V

Asia-Pacific countries such as Japan and Australia have procured Tomahawk Block IV missiles, while in Europe the UK will likely operate them from the Type 26 City-class frigates, currently in build. The UK Royal Navy has operated the TLAM from its Astute -class nuclear-powered attack submarines for a number of years.

However, legacy operators in recent years have moved to upgrade existing Block IV stock to Block V, either through recertification or acquisition of new missiles.

Japan planned to upgrade all eight of its Aegis destroyers to install Tomahawk cruise missiles, and Australia requested a sale of $895m for Tomahawk missiles from the US to boost their maritime capabilities and improve interoperability earlier this year.

Indeed, in November this year the US State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the Government of Japan of Tomahawk Weapon System and related equipment for an estimated cost of $2.35bn. The request was for up to 200 Tomahawk Block IV All Up Rounds and 200 Tomahawk Block V AURs, along with weapon control systems.

Earlier, in March this year the US approved the possible FMS of 200 Block V and 20 Block IV Tomahawk missiles to Australia, with a deal valued at $895m . 

In May 2022, the UK announced that its stock of Block IV TLAM munitions were to be upgraded to the Block V variant for specific use in the Astute-class submarines. The Block V, according to UK Defence Equipment and Support, an arm of the Ministry of Defence, would have a longer range than the Block IV at up to 1,000 miles, and also has updated in-flight communications and target selection.

The Netherlands has also confirmed that it would acquire the Block V Tomahawk for use in its De Zeven Provinciën -class frigates.

Any acquisition of the MST for countries such as the UK would add a useful anti-surface warfare system to the inventory, particularly as the development of next generation anti-ship missiles, such as the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon (FC-ASW), with the UK and France, are someway off being fielded.

With the Block V, and through it the Va and Vb variants, likely to remain in service for more than a decade and even up to the 2040s, this would provide vital development time for countries seeking next-generation ASW systems.

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USMC Discusses Land-Based Tomahawk Missile Launchers

The u.s. army and u.s. marine corps (usmc) are moving closer to fielding land-based tomahawk cruise missiles launched from tractor-trailers. the u.s. navy awarded a $217 million contract on may 24, 2022 for 154 tomahawk block v cruise missiles with 70 missiles going to the u.s. navy, 54 going to the usmc, and 30 to the army. the army and usmc will have their missiles fired from trailers whereas the navy will have them fired from their mark 41 vls cells. naval news inquired the u.s. marines for more information..

Peter Ong 09 Jun 2022

Kelly Flynn, Public Affairs Specialist, U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command replied to Naval News’ inquiry at the end of May 2022 as to what kind of launcher the Marines will use for Tomahawk missiles on their trailers.

“The Marine Corps is using a derivative of the MK41 launcher.  For security reasons, that information [the number of missiles per trailer] cannot be disclosed at this time.” Kelly Flynn, Public Affairs Specialist, Marine Corps Systems Command

Asked on if the Mark 41 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells on the trailers will fire anything else besides the Tomahawk Block V cruise missiles, Flynn replied, “The Marine Corps’ Long Range Fires program is only integrating the Tomahawk weapon system at this time.” Naval News has covered the Marine Corps’ quest in pursuing Land-based Tomahawk cruise missiles here .

At that time on June 21, 2021, the Marines requested 48+ Tomahawk missiles as part of their “Unfunded Priority List.”  The Marines were actually budgeted 54 Tomahawk Block Vs in May 2022, six more missiles than they desired.

Naval News Comments

The USMC did not have any photos to share of their trailer launcher although photos do exist online showing a potential working Mark 41 VLS trailer cell prototype.  Thus, the number of Tactical Land-Attack Missile (TLAM) Block V Tomahawks will most likely be four missiles per trailer. 

The U.S. Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) has a graphic slide showing the intended setup of the TLAMs on a trailer (see top photo) and this seems to coincide with a Naval News image showing a very similar setup (see photo below).  The trailer changes to have three axles instead of two, most likely a 34-ton M872 trailer.

Although the RCCTO graphic is an U.S. Army setup, the graphic shows a firing battery of four trailers with four Mark 41 VLS launch cells on each trailer for a total of 16 Tomahawk TLAM missiles per battery. There is the Battery Operations Center (BOC) trailer with electronics, Command staff, communications and firing controls, a BOC Support Vehicle (most likely a HMMWV towing a power generator), a reload flatbed trailer with eight Tomahawk missile containers, and the associated Prime Mover tractors. 

For the USMC, the Prime Mover will most likely be the Logistics Vehicle System Replacement (LVSR) tractor whereas the U.S. Army will use the M983A4 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) as the Prime Mover.

For speculative discussion purposes , if the Mark 41 VLS cells can be transported on land, does that mean that the entire Mark 41 VLS missile inventory can also be fired from land?  Such a missile inventory includes the Standard family of missiles, the Evolved Sea Sparrow Missile (ESSM) the Anti-Submarine Rocket (ASROC), and in the future, the Long-Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) that might get a VLS booster. If so, the ESSM and Standard can provide the USMC a Surface-to-Air and Surface-to-Surface striking capability at much higher speeds besides just using subsonic Tomahawk, providing Surface Strike and Anti-Air capabilities packed into one trailer (four ESSMs can fit into one Mark 41 VLS cell in a Mark 25 Quad-Pack).

The U.S. Army seems to be fielding the SM-6 Standard missile family, which may include some form of Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) if networked with the proper “Sensor-to-shooter Kill Chain Web.”

The Mark 41 trailers with the missile canisters and launchers are transportable via C-130 “Hercules” cargo plane whereas the entire setup of the Mark 41 tractor-trailer can be transported by the future Light Amphibious Warship (LAW) if so desired.

The concept of firing Tomahawk cruise missiles from land-based trailers has taken several years to come into funding, acquisition, and fruition.  Nonetheless, deals and treaties with allied hosting nations for setting up and firing these U.S. Army and USMC Mark 41 trailer missiles still need to be sorted out and signed into the agreement.

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The Simple Difference Between Ballistic Missiles and Cruise Missiles

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In 2017, North Korea unexpectedly staged a test launch of what was then a new ballistic missile , the Pukguksong-2. The launch took place when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was on a state visit to the United States . There have been many more test launches of ballistic missiles by North Korea since. Between May and October 2019, North Korea launched as many as 12 ballistic missiles or other projectiles. But they have all been just test launches.

Things got real, though, on Jan. 7, 2020, when Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops. This was not a test launch. It was Iran's retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020. There were no casualties and Iran's Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif defended the missile strike on the U.S. bases in Iraq, saying it was an act of "self-defense."

But for the non-military minded among us, these ballistic missile launches — both the constant test launches in North Korea and the intentional strikes on U.S. bases in Iraq — may raise a good question: What exactly is a ballistic missile, anyway? Is there something about the ballistic part that makes a missile even more dangerous? After all, when someone freaks out we say they've "gone ballistic."

According to the Federation of American Scientists , a ballistic missile is one that has a ballistic trajectory over most of its flight path. What that means is that once the missile burns up the fuel that propels it, the missile keeps moving, the same way that a bullet does after it's been fired out of a gun. Once the fuel is gone, the missile's direction can't be altered. It follows a path determined by the speed of its launch and the force of gravity trying to pull it back toward the Earth's surface. Eventually, gravity guides the missile — and its payload, which might be an explosive, a chemical or biological weapon, or a nuclear device — down toward its target.

Ballistic missiles are different than cruise missiles. Cruise missiles are self-propelled for the majority of their time in the air, flying in a relatively straight line and at lower altitudes thanks to a rocket propellant. Think of a ballistic missile's flight path as a large arc up and back down again, while that of a cruise missile — fired from a warship, for instance — is closer to a straight line.

Ballistic missiles first came into use during World War II, when the Germans used a ballistic missile called the V-2 to attack London. British air defenses designed to stop aircraft couldn't stop the V-2s, because the rockets traveled too high into the upper atmosphere and moved too fast.

After the war, the U.S., with the help of captured German technology and scientists, built its own arsenal of even more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of unleashing nuclear destruction upon targets on the other side of the world. The Soviet Union and China built ICBMs as well, setting up a world where a nuclear war was deterred by the prospect of mutual assured destruction.

The North Korean regime successfully tested intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) in July and November 2017. Its Hwasong-15 ICBM reached an altitude of 2,780 miles (4,475 kilometers) and flew about 590 miles (1,000 kilometers) before landing in the sea off the coast of Japan. Analysts estimate the Hwasong-15 has a potential range of 8,100 miles (13,000 kilometers). If it's fired on a flatter trajectory, it could reach potentially reach anywhere on the U.S. mainland.

Which countries have intercontinental ballistic missiles?

What is meant by ballistic trajectory, what is difference between a ballistic and a cruise missile, how high do ballistic missiles fly, are ballistic missiles nuclear.

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Cruise Missiles Rise To Top Of U.S. Weapons Agenda

After successfully fielding only one new cruise missile during the past 30 years, the U.S. Defense Department hopes to multiply that result over the next decade.

Two new candidates for a future hypersonic cruise missile are currently in testing, while a third has entered the design phase. A subsonic replacement for a nuclear version of the Boeing AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile is in development. Another replacement for the Navy’s RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk is on the drawing board and may be adapted for a nuclear role as well.

• Scramjet-powered cruise missiles gain traction
• INF Treaty demise restarts production of ground-launched cruise missiles

Meanwhile, new versions of the Lockheed Martin AGM-158 Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM) and the Tomahawk missiles are set to enter production. Finally, a new class of air vehicle that blurs the line between a cruise missile and an unmanned aircraft system is gaining traction.

The  Biden administration, however, might intervene. Two nuclear cruise missile projects—the Air Force’s Raytheon Long-Range Standoff (LRSO) and the Navy’s sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM-N)—could become targets of a pending review by President Joe Biden’s appointees of the $1.2 trillion nuclear modernization program. And the extent to which Biden’s national security team supports conventional hypersonic cruise missiles is not yet apparent.

But U.S. military support has never been higher for a powered alternative to ballistic missiles with the capability to maneuver during a flight without sacrificing speed.

In the category of hypersonic weapons, scramjet-powered cruise missiles are seen as a more affordable and versatile option than the larger and more expensive hypersonic glide vehicles, such as the air-launched Lockheed AGM-183A.

As recently as December 2018, senior defense officials viewed scramjet propulsion as less mature than rocket-boosted hypersonic gliders. But scramjet technology has evolved rapidly in wind tunnel testing.

In 2020, Aerojet Rocketdyne demonstrated that an 18-ft.-long scramjet engine could generate 13,000-lb. thrust in a wind tunnel. Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems achieved the same result with another scramjet design in 2019. Both engines are now set to enter flight testing in 2021 under DARPA’s Hypersonic Air-Breathing Weapon Concept program; Aerojet has partnered with Lockheed, and Northrop has teamed up with Raytheon. A follow-on operational prototyping program, known as the Hypersonic Attack Cruise Missile, is set to begin, and air-launched and sea-launched versions are possible.

A third option could enter the competition this year. In November, the Pentagon awarded Boeing a contract to complete a preliminary design and component-level testing of the Mach 5-plus HyFly 2, a concept for a dual-combustion, ramjet-powered cruise missile optimized for the Navy’s carrier decks.

All three conventional hypersonic cruise missiles are expected to enter service years before the Air Force fields the nuclear LRSO, but the program is making progress. The Air Force selected Raytheon over Lockheed to continue development of the LRSO, which will be armed with an upgraded W80-4 warhead.

The LRSO entered development under the Obama administration, but the SLCM-N joined the future arsenal following the Trump administration’s Nuclear Posture Review. A Navy analysis recommended developing the SLCM-N as a nuclear variant for the Next-Generation Land Attack Weapon (NGLAW), which is intended to replace the ship- and surface-launched Tomahawk.

As a bridge to the fielding of the NGLAW, the Tomahawk itself reentered production in 2020 to support the improved Block V variant. The Maritime Strike Tomahawk, which integrates a new seeker, is scheduled to enter service in 2023.

Ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCM) also are making a comeback since the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in August 2019. That 31-year-old pact compelled the Air Force to retire an arsenal of deployed BGM-109G Gryphon missiles. But conventional GLCMs will reenter the arsenal. Last November, the Army selected the BGM-109 Tomahawk to form half of a new Mid-Range Capability with a ground-launched version of the Raytheon SM-6 in 2023.

Lockheed’s AGM-158 JASSM provided the Air Force a stealthy option to strike targets at ranges of up to 500 nm. Although the AGM-158 fell far short of the AGM-86C conventional air-launched cruise missile, the Air Force allowed the latter to be retired from service with no direct replacement in November 2019. That gap will be addressed partially by the fielding in 2024 of the AGM-158D, a new version of the JASSM with a range of up to 1,000 nm and the same radar cross section.

Steve covers military aviation, missiles and space for the Aviation Week Network, based in Washington DC.

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What Iran’s attack on Israel revealed about its weapons arsenal

Iran’s first direct attack on Israel overnight Saturday demonstrated the country’s military might and the advances of its domestic weapons program, analysts said, while also revealing the limitations of its arsenal.

With more than 300 drones and missiles launched in a layered onslaught, it was Iran’s largest-ever conventional show of force . That it inflicted only minimal damage was due in part to the choreographed nature of the attack — giving Israel and the United States ample time to prepare air defense systems — but may also be attributed to shortcomings in its medium- and long-range capabilities.

“The operation showed that our armed forces are ready,” Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi told crowds gathered Wednesday in Tehran to mark Army Day. Parades in the Iranian capital featured many of the same munitions used in the attack on Israel.

What Iran used against Israel

110 ballistic

Iranian drones

These drones can deliver small payloads of explosives in self-detonating attacks.

Length: 11.5 ft.

Width: 8 ft.

Max. take off weight: 440 lb.

Max. speed: 115 mph

Range: About 1,100 - 1,500 miles

Its nose contains a warhead and can be equipped with a camera.

Length: 8 ft.

Width: 7 ft.

Max. take off weight: 300 lb.

The Shahed-131 is an earlier version of Shahed-136 with a similar principle of operation. The layout and aerodynamics are also identical.

Ballistic missiles

KHEIBAR SHEKAN

The Kheibar Shekan MRBM is a solid-propellant ballistic missile designed by the IRGC.

Length: 34 ft.

Diameter: 2.6 ft.

Max. range: 900 miles

Warhead weight: 1,100 lb.

Introduction: 2022

The Emad MRBM is an Iranian-designed, liquid-fuel ballistic missile based on Shahab-3.

Length: 54 ft.

Diameter: 4.1 ft.

Max. range: 1,056 miles

Warhead weight: 1,650 lb.

Introduction: 2015

The Ghadr-1 MRBM seems to be an improved variant of the Shahab-3A. It is also referred to as the Ghadr-101 and the Ghadr-110.

Max. range: 1,211 miles

Warhead weight: 1,760 lb.

Introduction: 2007

Cruise missile

Max. range: 1,025 miles

Introduction: 2023

What Iran did not use

The Sejjil-1 Iranian MRBM is a two-stage, solid-propellant, surface-to-surface missile.

Length: 60 ft

Max. range: 1,243 miles

Warhead weight: 1,540 lb.

Introduction: 2011

The Shahab-3 is a MRBM developed by Iran and based on the North Korean Nodong-1.

Diameter: 4.1 or 4.5 ft.

Max. range: 808 miles

Warhead: Single or multiple

with 5 warheads of 617 lb.

Introduction: 2003

Sources: OE Data Integration Network (ODIN),

CSIS Missile Defense Project

120 ballistic

120 ballistic missiles

30 cruise missiles

Overhead view

1,211 miles

1,056 miles

Max. range:

Warhead weight:

Introduction:

Sources: OE Data Integration Network (ODIN), CSIS Missile Defense Project

Raisi hailed the attack as a resounding “success,” but was also quick to qualify the strikes as “limited” and “not comprehensive.”

“If it was supposed to be a large-scale action, nothing would have been left of the Zionist regime,” he said. And if Israel retaliates, Raisi pledged, “they will be dealt with fiercely and severely.”

Yet after analyzing the munitions used in Saturday’s assault and the success of regional defense systems, researchers say it’s unclear how Iran could inflict greater damage on Israel through conventional military means.

“Iran basically threw everything it had that could reach Israel’s territory,” said John Krzyzaniak, a researcher who studies Iran’s missile programs at the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control. Like other analysts interviewed for this story, he has spent the past several days studying launch videos, imagery of debris and interception information to identify the Iranian munitions.

His conclusion is that Tehran “used some of every system they have.” And experts said it made sense that the Sejjil-1 and Shahab-3 missiles were excluded from the attack.

Shahab-3 “wasn’t used because it’s so old,” said Fabian Hinz, an Iran analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Berlin. “The Sejjil is a bit of a mysterious missile,” he said, adding that Iran has “used it very, very little during maneuvers.”

Other analysts noted the Sejjil was expensive to produce and may no longer be in production.

The quantity of munitions used also provides new insights into Iran’s capabilities. The deployment of over 100 ballistic missiles in a single wave suggests that previous estimates that Iran has about 3,000 ballistic missiles stockpiled are probably accurate, and could even be on the low end.

“If this is just round one of an unknown number of rounds to come, you wouldn’t fire a significant fraction of what you have just in the first round,” Krzyzaniak said.

The firing of over 100 ballistic missiles in the space of a few minutes suggests Iran has at least 100 launchers, he added — a new data point for researchers.

“This shows that Iran has really faced no limitation in domestically producing missiles and launchers,” he said.

Iran’s ballistic missile arsenal, the largest of any country in the Middle East, is almost entirely homegrown. In recent years Iran has demonstrated the ability to upgrade some systems, improving their range and precision.

The spokesman for Iran’s armed forces, Abolfazl Shekarchi, said the munitions used in the strikes against Israel only represented “a fraction of” the country’s military’s might, according to a statement published on state-run media.

The evolution of Iran’s

missile program

In the mid-1980s, Tehran acquired Scud missiles from Libya, Syria and North Korea and also began adapting the technology for their own missile variants. During the eight-year war with Iraq, Tehran countered primarily with Scud B missiles, which have a range of 185 miles.

Shahab-1 , 186 miles

1994 to 2001

Iran developed its own version of the Scud B, the Shahab-1, and from 1994 to 2001 fired it at bases in Iraq used by the opposition group Mujahedin-e Khalq.

A new generation of missiles

After 16 years without firing new missiles, Iran showed its technological advances in 2017 striking on an ISIS command center with 6 Zolfaghars with a range of 430 miles. In early 2024, it launched strikes against Islamic State targets in northwest Syria using Kheibar Shekan missiles that travelled 745 miles from Iran to Syria.

Fahteh 110 , 181 miles

Fahteh 313 , 310 miles

Zolfaghar , 435 miles

Qiam 1 , 497 miles

Kheibar Shekan , 900 miles

IRAN ATTACKS

Against ISIS

6 ballistic missiles

Deir ez-Zor, Syria

Against Kurdish dissidents

7 ballistic missiles

Abu Kamal, Syria

Against Oil fields and facilities

18 drones + 7 cruise missiles

Abqaiq, S. Arabia

Khurais, S. Arabia

3 cruise missiles

Against U.S. forces

Erbil, Iraq

1 ballistic missile

Ain Al Asad, Iraq

15 to 22 ballistic missiles

Against “Israeli strategic centers”

At least 10 ballistic missiles

73 launches + at least 20 drones

and suicide drones

Sulaimaniyah,

Against IS targets

Harem, Syria

Israeli “spy headquarters”

Against Jaish ul Adl

Balochistan,

Missiles and drones

Against Israel

120 ballistic missiles,

170 drones,

Sources: United States Institute of Peace, CSIS, IDF

The evolution of Iran’s missile program

IRAN TARGETS

KNOWN MISSILE

Zolfaghars,

Abqaiq, Saudi Arabia

Khurais, Saudi Arabia

Zolfaghars and

potentially

Ballistic missiles and suicide drones

Sulaimaniyah, Iraq

Kheibar Shekan

Balochistan, Pakistan

Missiles and drones against Jaish ul Adl

170 drones, 30 cruise missiles

Before the attack on Israel, Iran’s most significant use of ballistic missiles was in 2020, after a U.S. drone attack killed the powerful Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani.

Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two U.S. military bases in Iraq, one in the country’s west and one in the north. While there were no fatalities, dozens of U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injuries.

Iran also used ballistic missiles in strikes this year on Pakistan, Syria and Iraq.

Iranian ballistic

missile ranges

1,240 miles

Locations of Iranian

missile strikes

INDIAN OCEAN

But the attack on Israel suggests that many of Iran’s munitions are of low quality. Israel’s military said 99 percent of the missiles and drones launched by Iran were intercepted or failed to launch.

“We saw that accuracy and precision are a work in progress,” said Behnam Ben Taleblu, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies who has written extensively about Iran’s missile program. “These weapons alone won’t win a war for Iran.”

Iranian drones made up the first wave of the attack. Cheap, effective and easy to produce, Iranian drones have been used in attacks across the Middle East for years. Iran has also supplied drones to Russia for its war in Ukraine , where they have been deadly.

During the attack on Israel, the slow-moving drones were probably deployed to occupy air defenses and allow more advanced munitions to get through. All the drones were shot down before entering Israeli airspace, the Israel Defense Forces said.

Ali Hamie, a Lebanese military analyst, said Iran had probably gleaned important lessons about Israel’s aerial defenses. Commentators on Iranian state television have made similar points.

“It could be a testing attack,” Hamie said, “and the Iranians got what they want. Making it past the air defenses is not only a symbolic victory, but real victory.”

One of the few missiles to make it through the interceptors hit an Israeli air base in the Negev desert. Images of the strike were run on loop on many state-run Iranian broadcasters in the days after the attack. Israel characterized the damage as minor.

General location of missile strikes

that reached the ground.

Beirut—

Populated areas

Haifa—

Tel Aviv—

—Amman

—Jerusalem

An emad missile

was found here.

The barrage of

missiles from Iran

included targeting

the Nevatim

General location of

missile strikes that

reached the ground.

Mediterranean

General location of missile

strikes that reached the

In addition to analyzing Israel’s air defenses, Tehran will probably also be studying the problems with its missile systems that reportedly led to failures at launch and in flight, according to Afshon Ostovar, a professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in California.

“Another attack could be more effective,” he said. But ultimately the kind of approach demonstrated in Saturday’s attack “is not really sustainable over a long-term conflict.”

Even if Iran changed the tempo of attacks and adjusted the munitions used, “they would still have to launch quite a lot of stuff for just a few [munitions] to get through,” he said.

Some Iranian officials have suggested they have held back their most dangerous weapons.

“We are prepared to use weapons we have never used before. We have plans for every scenario,” said Abolfazl Amoui, a parliamentary national security spokesman, in an interview with Lebanese broadcaster Mayadeen.

But analysts say it’s unlikely that any one type of munition could be a game changer. Rather, it’s more likely Iran would use the same kinds of munitions in a future attack, but in a different way: giving less warning, or launching the barrage in concert with allied militant groups in the region. The country’s proxy forces, from Lebanon to Iraq to Yemen, played little role in Saturday’s assault.

As Israel mulls its response , Tehran has warned that a counterattack would come in “a matter of seconds.”

“Iran will not wait for another 12 days to respond,” Deputy Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri Kani said Monday.

While the United States and Israel have celebrated the thwarting of Saturday’s attack, analysts are urging humility.

“The number of munitions it took to repel the attack was enormous, costly and could be difficult to replicate,” said Tom Karako, the director of the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“Israel may have gotten lucky and Iran may have gotten very unlucky.”

William Neff and Suzan Haidamous contributed to this report.

Israel-Gaza war

The Israel-Gaza war has gone on for six months, and tensions have spilled into the surrounding region .

The war: On Oct. 7, Hamas militants launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel that included the taking of civilian hostages at a music festival . (See photos and videos of how the deadly assault unfolded ). Israel declared war on Hamas in response, launching a ground invasion that fueled the biggest displacement in the region since Israel’s creation in 1948 .

Gaza crisis: In the Gaza Strip, Israel has waged one of this century’s most destructive wars , killing tens of thousands and plunging at least half of the population into “ famine-like conditions. ” For months, Israel has resisted pressure from Western allies to allow more humanitarian aid into the enclave .

U.S. involvement: Despite tensions between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some U.S. politicians , including President Biden, the United States supports Israel with weapons , funds aid packages , and has vetoed or abstained from the United Nations’ cease-fire resolutions.

History: The roots of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and mistrust are deep and complex, predating the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948 . Read more on the history of the Gaza Strip .

• Six months of the Israel-Gaza war: A timeline of key moments April 7, 2024 Six months of the Israel-Gaza war: A timeline of key moments April 7, 2024
• Homes burned, animals killed: Palestinians describe Israeli settler rampage April 16, 2024 Homes burned, animals killed: Palestinians describe Israeli settler rampage April 16, 2024
• Blinken calls proposed Israeli cease-fire deal ‘extraordinarily generous’ April 29, 2024 Blinken calls proposed Israeli cease-fire deal ‘extraordinarily generous’ April 29, 2024

US sends land-attack missile system to Philippines for exercises in apparent message to China

China has accused the United States of “stoking military confrontation” with the recent deployment of a powerful missile launcher capable of firing weapons with a range of up to 1,600 kilometers to exercises in the Philippines.

The US Army’s Mid-Range Capability (MRC) ground-based missile system arrives in a region on edge following a series of dangerous Chinese-Philippine face-offs in the South China Sea, during which Philippine ships have been targeted with water cannons, injuring several Filipino sailors.

It’s the first-ever deployment of the MRC missile system, also known as the Typhon system, to the Indo-Pacific theater, and it comes amid a series of US-Philippine military exercises, including the largest-ever edition of the annual bilateral Balikatan drills beginning Monday.

The US Army has not said how long the Typhon system will remain in the Philippines, but its involvement in the series of joint exercises between the two treaty allies, the first of which began on April 8, sends a signal the US can put offensive weaponry well within striking distance of Chinese installations in the South China Sea, the southern Chinese mainland and along the Taiwan Strait, analysts say.

The Typhon system is capable of firing the Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), a ballistic missile defense munition that can also target ships at sea at a range of 370 kilometers (230 miles), according to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

It also can fire the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a maneuverable cruise missile with a range of 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles), according to the CSIS.

According to Beijing its presence in the region increases the risks of “misjudgment and miscalculation.”

During a regular news briefing last week, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian accused the US of seeking a “unilateral military advantage,” and underscored Beijing’s strong opposition to the deployment.

“We urge the US to earnestly respect other countries’ security concerns, stop stoking military confrontation, stop undermining peace and stability in the region, and take concrete actions to reduce strategic risks,” Lin said.

The US Army is calling the deployment, which began April 11 for the Salaknib exercise, a “landmark” in its regional capability.

Diplomatic fallout

The apparent diplomatic fallout comes as attendees from 29 countries, including the commander of the US Pacific Fleet, attend a two-day Western Pacific Naval Symposium, which began in the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao on Sunday.

The attendees will discuss “maritime peace, maritime order based on maritime security cooperation and international laws, and global maritime governance,” according to Chinese state-run Xinhua news agency.

Those are the same rules Washington and Manila accuse Beijing of ignoring with  aggressive Chinese actions that have injured Filipino sailors and damaged vessels around disputed features in the South China Sea.

The 1951 mutual defense treaty between the US and the Philippines – the oldest such US pact in Asia-Pacific – stipulates both sides would help defend each other if either were attacked by a third party.

In brief comments to CNN on the sidelines of the gathering, US Adm. Stephen Koehler said: “I think it’s a great opportunity for all navies to get together and discuss all the issues.”

China’s missile advantage

Analysts say the deployment of the Typhon missile battery is the first signal of US plans to address what has long been an advantage for Beijing in the region.

“This in some way ‘equalizes’ the prior situation where (Chinese) missiles have threatened US forces along the First Island Chain (which includes the northern Philippines, Japan and Taiwan), and even further eastward along the Second Island Chain centering on Guam,” said Collin Koh, research fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

A 2021 report for the US Army’s professional journal Military Review puts the current missile advantage of the People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force (PLARF) in stark terms.

“The conventional arm of the PLARF is the largest ground-based missile force in the world, with over 2,200 conventionally armed ballistic and cruise missiles and with enough antiship missiles to attack every US surface combatant vessel in the South China Sea with enough firepower to overcome each ship’s missile defense,” Army Maj. Christopher Milhal wrote.

While the Typhon can’t bring those kinds of numbers into play for US forces, its mobility represents a problem for Chinese mission planners — giving it important deterrent value, analysts say.

In announcing the Typhon deployment, the US military noted how the system was delivered to the Philippines via an 8,000-mile, 15-hour flight from Washington state by a US Air Force C-17 cargo jet.

Analysts don’t expect the Typhon system to be permanently based in the Philippines, but Koh said the ability to move the batteries to a range of “pre-surveyed launch sites” around the region on short notice increases their survivability and challenges relatively new and untested Chinese intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance (ISR) and targeting capabilities.

Whether the Typhon’s likely temporary status mitigates the fallout remains unknown. but China has previously reacted furiously to missile deployments in what it sees as its backyard.

Writing in the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance Blog, analyst Rupert Schulenberg noted that in 2016, when South Korea agreed to the deployment of a THAAD defensive missile system on the Korean Peninsula, “Beijing responded with an unofficial economic boycott that cost South Korea’s economy $7.5 billion in 2017 alone.”

The current deployment of the Typhon was something that would not have even been an option for the US military until 2019. Development of ground-launched missile systems of the type were banned under the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the US and the Soviet Union.

But the US formally withdrew from the treaty in 2019, with then-President Donald Trump “citing Russian noncompliance and concerns about China’s intermediate-range missile arsenal.”

Balikatan exercises begin

Meanwhile, the US and the Philippines kicked-off the largest of their series of joint exercises Monday, with the three-week Balikatan drills — Tagalog for shoulder-to-shoulder — involving thousands of military personnel.

A report from the official Philippine News Agency said Manila would use the annual exercises to showcase its military’s most advanced systems, including a missile frigate, light fighter jets, close-combat support aircraft and Black Hawk helicopters.

Philippine officials previously indicated the naval portion of the exercise would for the first time extend beyond the 12-nautical-mile limit of Philippine waters — and into the country’s exclusive economic zone, some 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from Philippine shores, though no exact route has been provided.

It will also include French naval participation in a group sail from Palawan Island, according to Philippine officials.

Palawan, which sits between the South China Sea and the Sulu Sea, is about 200 kilometers from Second Thomas Shoal, a contested feature in the Spratly Islands that has been the site of numerous face-offs between Philippine and Chinese coast guard vessels.

This story has been updated.

CNN’s Steven Jiang in Qingdao contributed to this report.

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