BGM-109 TLAM
Tomahawk/Tactical Tomahawk
Land-Attack Cruise Missile
- Description: The Tomahawk Land-Attack Missile (TLAM) is the Navy's premier, all-weather, long-range, subsonic land-attack cruise missile deployed on surface warships and submarines. The TLAM/C (BGM-109C) variant is armed with a unitary conventional warhead, while the TLAM/D (BGM-109D) variant is armed with submunitions. TLAM is guided by an on-board Inertial Navigation System (INS) and a Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM) system that correlates actual terrain contour with stored terrain contour. Additional accuracy is attained through multiple Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) updates, which take digital pictures of the terrain and compare them with stored digital maps. The TLAM Block III upgrade improves accuracy and global strike capability with the addition of Global Positioning System (GPS) guidance capability, improved DSMAC IIA and increased range.
- Tactical Tomahawk, the Block IV upgrade to TLAM, will preserve Tomahawk's long-range precision-strike capability while significantly increasing responsiveness and flexibility at significantly lower cost. The follow-on Tactical Tomahawk improvements include:
- in-flight retargeting
- the ability to loiter over the battlefield and to respond to emergent targets
- the ability to monitor the health and status of the missile in flight via satellite data link
- Battle Damage Indication Imagery (BDII) capability that gives a digital look-down "snapshot" of the battlefield and sends it via satellite data link
- GPS mission planning on board the launch platform, enabling the shooter to rapidly plan and execute strike missions against emergent battlefield targets
- improved anti-jam GPS that minimizes the effects of jamming
- a missile design that allows for alternative payloads, including smart submunitions, a penetrator warhead, and multiple response warhead.
- Program Status: Tactical Tomahawk program was initiated in Fiscal Year 1998, and IOC is planned for FY 2004. Current plans call for the Navy to procure 1,353 Tactical Tomahawk missiles, which are projected to meet the current requirements, but this assumes no contingency usage or operational expenditures. Additional Tactical Tomahawk procurement is constrained by affordability.
- Developer/Manufacturer: Raytheon, Tucson, Arizona.
- Tactical Tomahawk, the Block IV upgrade to TLAM, will preserve Tomahawk's long-range precision-strike capability while significantly increasing responsiveness and flexibility at significantly lower cost. The follow-on Tactical Tomahawk improvements include: