Surface Forces: Rehab For Elderly Tomahawks

Archives

December 13,2008: The U.S. Navy is refurbishing 165 older Tomahawk land attack missiles, for continued  use in ships and submarines. These missiles are built to have a long shelf life, but once they get older, they have to be refurbished to insure reliability. It will cost about $206,000 for each missile (including 32 British Tomahawks). More recent models of the Tomahawk are equipped with sensors that report the status of many components, enabling missiles to be kept in shape with periodic maintenance and replacement of failing components. This would not eliminate refurbishment, but would make the process less frequent and cheaper.