RGM/UGM-109B/C `TOMAHAWK'
Type
Land attack missile.
Development
With the signing of the first Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT 1) in 1972 there was renewed interest in submarine-launched
strategic/tactical cruise missiles and the Center for Naval Analysis reported that developments in turbofan engines and radar-based,
contour-matching navigation systems made such missiles feasible. The Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile (SLCM) programme,
later renamed the Sea-Launched Cruise Missile, was formally launched on 2 June 1972 and the parameters were defined within five
months, by which time a separate USAF cruise missile programme existed. Technology-sharing between the services was
encouraged, although only in February 1974 did this receive Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council (DSARC) approval.
However, the two programmes continued to converge, leading to a common development programme in March 1975.
Key subsystems were selected, and on 6 January 1977 DSARC authorised full-scale engineering development of the air-launched,
theatre, nuclear and anti-ship versions under the Joint Service Cruise Missile Project Office (JSCMPO), which was renamed in
March 1977 the Joint Cruise Missiles Project Office (JCMPO). The office was responsible not only for SLCM but also for the Air-
Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) and the Ground-Launched Cruise Missile (GLCM). Meanwhile, preliminary studies on SLCM
had led in January 1974 to development contracts for General Dynamics' Convair Division (Hughes Missile Systems Company from
August 1992 and now Raytheon Missile Systems Company) for the YBGM-109 and LTV's Chance Vought Division for the
YBGM-110. The General Dynamics' design was selected and named ` Tomahawk' in September 1975.
Development of naval versions continued during 1976 including the first submarine launch on 21 February 1978, the first
simulated mission on 16 March 1978 and the first demonstration of submunition ejection separation on 26 May 1978. In 1979 there
was the first real-time anti-ship mission by a submarine-launched missile, the first vertical launch on 14 September and the first
TLAM (see Table I) mission on 7 November, while the following year came the first ship launch on 19 March. By mid-1982, there
had been 90 test flights and launches of which 13 were failures and four were only partial successes. As a result of the successful
progress, a US$19.7 million contract was awarded to General Dynamics on 1 February 1977 for full-scale development of the
missile.
Initial naval production covered Block I versions; Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Nuclear (TLAM-N) and the Tomahawk
Anti-Ship Missile (TASM), which were originally to have been confined to submarine use. Programme trials were conducted from
the `Sturgeon' class submarine USS Guitarro (SSN 665) from 1981 and the Tomahawk became operational in November 1983 with
the `Los Angeles' class USS Atlanta (SSN 712). However, the US Navy decided to equip surface vessels with Tomahawk and, in
December 1979, the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations ordered the integration of over-the-horizon targeting capability to
support ship-launched cruise missiles. From January 1981 the `Spruance' class destroyer USS Merrill (DD 976) conducted trials
with missiles from an Armoured Box Launcher (ABL) and the system became operational in her sister ship the USS Comte de
Grasse (DD 974) late in 1984. The Block I reached its Initial Operating Capability (IOC) in November 1983 (TASM) and June
1984 (TLAM-N).
The US Navy had also sought precision land attack versions of Tomahawk, TLAM-C and TLAM-D as Block II (see Table I),
with improved guidance. The concept was successfully demonstrated against a simulated target on 31 January 1977 but it was not
until January 1981 that full-scale engineering development began and the first weapons reached IOC in March 1986. In July 1981, a
submarine-launched TLAM-C successfully attacked a target 259 nm (480 km) away and, in March 1986, this version achieved IOC.
Development of the submunition version, TLAM-D, was also successful and this achieved IOC in August 1988.
All versions of the missile were originally designated BGM-109 but about 1986 this was applied only to ground-launched
versions. Ship-launched versions were designated RGM-109 (surface ships) and UGM-109 (submarines). Plans for a reactive case
high-explosive warhead version (RGM/UGM-109E) and an airfield attack munition warhead version (RGM/UGM-109F) were
abandoned during the 1980s .
Ship-launched systems with their official designation are listed in Table I:
Table I
System Designation Notes
TLAM-N (or TLAM-A) RGM/UGM-109A Also called TLAM/N (or TLAM/A) until 1986
TASM RGM/UGM-109B
TLAM-C RGM/UGM-109C Formerly Block IIA, also called TLAM/C
TLAM-D RGM/UGM-109D Formerly Block IIB, also called TLAM/D
While Tomahawk is usually part of a balanced weapon mix, it was reported shortly before Operation Desert Storm began in January
1991 that some ships, deployed to the Middle East, were equipped largely or solely with Tomahawk.
Throughout Operation Desert Storm, 288 (some sources say 297) missiles were fired including 12 (some sources say 11 possibly
because one failed) from the submarines USS Pittsburgh (SSN 720) in the Mediterranean and USS Louisville (SSN 724) in the Red
Sea. The battleships USS Missouri (BB 63) and Wisconsin (BB 64) launched 52 missiles, the `Ticonderoga' (CG 47) class cruisers
USS Bunker Hill (CG 52), Mobile Bay (CG 53), Leyte Gulf (CG 55), San Jacinto (CG 56), Philippine Sea (CG 58), Princeton (CG
59) and Normandy (CG 60) launched a total of 105 missiles (2 missiles failed to transition to cruise flight), the cruisers USS
Virginia (CGN 38) and Mississippi (CGN 40) launched seven (two failed). The remainder were launched by the `Spruance' class
destroyers USS Spruance (DD 963), Paul F Foster (DD 964), Leftwich (DD 984) and Fife (DD 991) with the Paul F Foster and
Fife, which both have the GMVLS Mark 41 (which see), launching 40 and 60 missiles respectively of which two and one failed.
The majority of missiles were TLAM-C but, according to the Cruise Missile Project Office, 27 were TLAM-D. Most missiles were
despatched in pulses of six along the same route rather than being deployed simultaneously along different routes.
During Operation Desert Storm, the Tomahawks were reported to have had an 85 per cent success rate and General Colin L
Powell, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated: ``This system has worked almost flawlessly, with a near perfect launch rate,
and virtually all those launched struck their targets with high accuracy and effectiveness.'' So highly rated was Tomahawk that
afterwards the US Navy requested 400 in a supplement to the FY91 budget and a further 236 in FY92. However, newspaper reports
(claiming to be based upon classified documents) stated the real success rate was about 50 per cent and that shadows in ravines early
and late in the day confused the navigation system.There are unconfirmed reports that during Operation Desert Storm some of the
first wave of 116 missiles carried payloads (reportedly designated Kit 2S) of glass filaments with metal pieces designed to entangle
themselves around power lines and short-circuit electricity networks.
The Tomahawk missiles have since been launched on four more occasions as shown in Table II:
Table II:
Tomahawk missions
Date Location Missiles Missiles on Percentage
Launched Target success
17 Jan 1993 Iraq 45 40 89
25 Jun 1993 Iraq 23 19 83
10 Sep 1995 Bosnia 13 11 85
3/4 Sep 1996 Iraq 31 29 94
Total - 112 99 88
Surface ships involved in these missions were the USS Normandy (CG 60), USS Chancellorville (CG 62), USS Cowpens (CG 63),
USS Laboon (DDG 58), USS Russell (DDG 59),USS Hewitt (DD 966), USS Peterson (DD 969), USS Caron (DD 970) and USS
Stump (DD 978). The 1996 operation was the first to involve 'Arleigh Burke' (DDG 51) class destroyers.
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