Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
July 9, 2008
IWG Report 2007
Independent Working Group Report: Missile Defense, the Space Relationship, and the Twenty-First Century. »»
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RGM/UGM-109C TLAM-C
| Country: | United States of America |
|---|---|
| Alternate Name: | Tomahawk |
| Class: | S/SuLCM |
| Target: | Land |
| Length: | 6.25 m |
| Diameter: | 0.52 m |
| Launch Weight: | 1452.00 kg |
| Payload: | 454 kg HE |
| Propulsion: | Turbofan w/ solid booster |
| Range: | 900.00 km |
| Guidance: | INS, TERCOM |
| Status: | Operational |
| In Service: | 1986-Present |
Details
The RGM/UGM-109C Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Conventional (TLAM-C) 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. In the beginning, the missiles were 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-109C TLAM-C (Tomahawk Land Attack Missile-Conventional) entered in 1986 and is 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.
The TLAM-C 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.
An upgrade for the TLAM-C was completed in 1986, introducing the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) navigation system, specifically for the TLAM-C and TLAM-D versions. The Block 2 version has a range of 1,300 km when ship-launched, and 900 km when submarine-launched. It carries a 454 kg high explosive warhead, and has an accuracy of 10 m circular error probability (CEP).
A second upgrade began in 1991 for the land attack version of the TLAM-C, and was completed in 1999. It includes a GPS receiver and an improved guidance computer. It has a range of 1,700 km when ship-launched, and a range of 1,150 km when submarine-launched. Sources indicate that some Block 2 missiles have been upgraded to the Block 3 standard.
A third upgrade was completed in 1994. Known as the Tomahawk Baseline Improvement Program (TBIP), it was aimed at improving the capability of anti-ship TASM and earlier Block 2 TLAM-C missiles. It included a new communications link for in-flight target changes and improved anti-jamming protection to the GPS receiver.
The RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk first saw combat during the 1990-1991 Gulf War, when a total of 264 TLAM-C and 27 TLAM-D missiles were launched. A further 45 missiles were fired at industrial targets in Iraq in January 1993, and another 23 in July 1993. In September 1995, the U.S. launched some 13 Tomahawks into Bosnia, marking the first time that Block 3 missiles were used operationally. A further 31 missiles were fired at targets in Iraq in 1996.
In August 1998, 13 TLAM-C Block 3 and 66 TLAM-D Block 3 were fired from U.S. ships and submarines against a factory target in Khartoum, Sudan, and at terrorist camps in Afghanistan. That December, 325 TLAM-C and TLAM-D missiles were fired at targets in Serbia and Kosovo. In October 2001, some 50 to 70 missiles were launched against Afghanistan, and in March and April 2003 about 800 Tomahawk cruise missiles were fired by the U.S. against targets in Iraq.(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.
