Raytheon to build 196 Tomahawk Block IV ship- and submarine-launched cruise missiles in $209 million contract
PATUXENT RIVER NAS, Md., 17 Dec. 2010. The Raytheon Co. Missile Systems segment in Tucson, Ariz., will build 196 Tomahawk Block IV ship- and submarine-launched cruise missiles under terms of a $209 million contract announced Thursday from U.S. Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.
The RGM/UGM-109E Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM Block IV) is one of the latest versions of the Tomahawk cruise missile, developed in the 1970s, with digital scene matching area correlator system and improved turbofan engine. The subsonic long-range cruise missile is designed to attack targets on land, as well as large hardened warships.
The cruise missile, which can attack targets from as far away as 900 nautical miles, can be controlled in flight, and has a real-time targeting system for striking moving targets. The Tomahawk Block IV missile is capable of launch from surface ships equipped with the vertical launch system (VLS), from submarines equipped with the capsule launch system (CLS), and from submarines equipped with the torpedo tube launch system.
This contract calls for Raytheon Missile Systems to build 132 Tomahawk missiles for launch from surface ships, and 64 Tomahawks to be launched from submarines. The Tomahawk Block IV has a two-way satellite data link that enables the missile to respond to changing battlefield conditions.
Controllers reprogram the missile in flight to sent it to alternate targets preprogrammed before launch, or redirect it to a new target. The missile can loiter over the battlefield to wait for the most valuable target to attack, and can transmit battle damage indication imagery and missile health, as well as status messages, the weapon's satellite data link. The missile also can fly GPS-only missions. The Block IV Tomahawk has an anti-jam capability.
Raytheon will do work on this contract in Tucson, Ariz.; Walled Lake, Mich.; Camden, Ark.; Anniston, Ala.; Glenrothes, Scotland; Huntsville, Ala.; Minneapolis; Midland Ontario, ; Fort Wayne, Ind.; Ontario, Calif.; Spanish Fork, Utah; El Segundo, Calif.; Westminster, Colo.; Vergennes, Vt.; Middletown, Conn.; Largo, Fla.; Farmington, N.M.; and at other locations, and should be finished by July 2013.
For more information contact Raytheon Missile Systems online at www.raytheon.com/businesses/rms, or Naval Air Systems Command at www.navair.navy.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
