Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
October 14, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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RGM/UGM-109B TASM
| Country: | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Tomahawk |
| Class: | S/SuLCM |
| Target: | Ship |
| Length: | 6.25 m |
| Diameter: | 0.52 m |
| Launch Weight: | 1452.00 kg |
| Payload: | 454 kg HE |
| Propulsion: | Turbofan w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 450.00 km |
| Guidance: | INS, active radar |
| Status: | Operational |
| In Service: | 1983-Present |
Details
The RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM) is an intermediate-range, ship- and submarine-launched, turbofan powered, single warhead cruise missile developed and manufactured by the United States. Tomahawk missiles operate at extremely low altitudes at subsonic speeds, and fly in an evasive flight-path using an array of guidance systems.
The U.S. Navy began its development of surface-launched cruise missiles in 1972. The program aimed to provide a ship- and submarine-launched missile for attacking ship and land targets. The missiles were initially intended to carry nuclear warheads in order to provide an additional survivable nuclear force, although they were later replaced with conventional warheads. The first underwater test launch took place in 1976, followed by the first vertical launch in 1979 and the first ship launch in 1980.
The first surface-launched cruise missile was known as the BGM-109 Tomahawk, which entered service with the U.S. Navy in 1983. In 1986, the BGM-109 was redesigned as the ship-launched RGM-109 and submarine-launched UGM-109 Tomahawk. Several versions of these ship- and submarine-launched cruise missiles exist, including the RGM/UGM-109A Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Nuclear (TLAM-N), the RGM/UGM-109B Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM), the RGM/UGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Conventional (TLAM-C), the RGM/UGM-109D (TLAM-D), and the Tactical Tomahawk Block 4.
The RGM/UGM-109B TASM (Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile) entered service with the U.S. Navy in 1983. The missile has four delta-shaped fins at its rear, and an underbody engine air inlet that is lowered after launch. It is 6.25 m in length, has a body diameter of 0.52 m, an unfolded wingspan of 2.61 m, and has a launch weight of 1,452 kg. Guidance is provided by an inertial navigation system (INS) with terrain contour matching (TERCOM). The missile is powered by a solid propellant boost motor and a turbofan engine, and is programmed to fly at low altitudes, from 100 m for longer-range missions to 15 m for shorter range missions. Sources indicate that the TASM is able to make a “pop-up” maneuver and dive on to the target ship. The missile has a range of 450 km, an accuracy of 30 to 185 m circular error probability (CEP), and carries a 454 kg high explosive warhead.
The RGM/UGM-109B TASM can be deployed on “Sea Wolf,” “Sturgeon,” “Los Angeles,” and “Narwhal” class submarines; on “Virginia” and “Ticonderoga” class cruisers; and “Raleigh Burke” and “Prance” class destroyers. It is fired from armored box launchers, vertical launchers, capsule launchers, and from conventional torpedo tubes.(1)
Footnotes
- Duncan Lennox, ed., Jane’s Strategic Weapons Systems 45 (Surrey: Jane’s Information Group, July 2006), pp. 200-204; GlobalSecurity.org, “BGM-109 Tomahawk,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/bgm-109.htm, accessed on August 1, 2006; GlobalSecurity.org, “BGM-109 Tomahawk / Tomahawk Variants,” available at http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/munitions/bgm-109-var.htm, accessed on August 1, 2006; E. R. Hooton and Richard Scott, “Striking from the sea,” Jane’s Navy International, October 1, 2002.
