Missiles clear the way for US military campaigns

Missiles clear the way for US military campaigns

The destructive power of the Tomahawk missile

The US suddenly launched 59 Tomahawk missiles from two naval destroyers against an air base near the city of Homs, Syria on April 6.

Measuring more than 6.25 m in length and weighing 1,590 kg, Tomahawk is a long-range, subsonic cruise missile that operates in all weather conditions and can be launched from both surface ships and submarines.

Tomahawk is considered a smart weapon because it possesses an inertial navigation and terrain identification system (TERCOM), capable of self-adjusting flight direction based on terrain data previously collected by satellites.

This missile line usually carries a warhead weighing 454 kg, is designed to fly extremely low to avoid enemy radar systems, and can destroy fortified targets with high accuracy.

The power and self-guidance ability of the Tomahawk missile.

During the attack on the Syrian air base, the US is said to have used Tomahawk missiles carrying this type of sub-warhead to destroy fighter jets, hangars, ammunition magazines and radar stations in the air base.

With such capabilities, Tomahawk became the top choice of American military strategists in the first phase of the war, aiming to destroy the enemy’s most important targets with the least loss of their own people.

From the Gulf War in 1991 until now, Tomahawk missiles have been fired to open many US military campaigns, destroying command posts, nerve centers, warehouses… of the enemy.

Each Tomahawk missile is said to cost $1.5 million and is being upgraded.

Tomahawk missile launched from a US destroyer.

The Obama administration proposed stopping production of Tomahawk missiles, a move that was part of a policy to cut defense spending in 2014. At that time, the US Navy had stockpiled 4,000 missiles of this type.

At the end of December last year, Raytheon Corporation was awarded a contract worth 303.7 million USD to produce an additional 214 Tomahawk Block IV cruise missiles and components for the US Navy.