A U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile was launched August 8 at 10:05 a.m. CDT from USS MAHAN (DDG-72), an ARLEIGH BURKE-Class guided missile destroyer underway in the Gulf of Mexico Operating Areas. The missile flew a land attack mission and safely terminated on the Eglin Air Force Base Test Range.

Seconds after launch from the ship's vertical launching system, the Tomahawk missile transitioned to cruise flight. It flew a fully guided 290-mile test flight using the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) system for navigation updates enroute to a target and recovery site on the Eglin Range. The missile's parachute recovery system was activated as planned. The missile was safely recovered and will be refurbished for future use.

Tomahawk is the nation's "weapon of choice" for critical, long range, precision strike missions against high value or heavily defended targets. Tomahawk missiles are deployed throughout the world's oceans on various surface ships and submarines.

While maintaining its deep strike capability, Tomahawk continues to evolve to meet the warfighters' needs for a more flexible and "tactical" precision strike weapon. Future variants will incorporate new technologies to provide advanced operational capabilities and expanded missions while significantly reducing acquisition and life cycle costs.

As in all Tomahawk flight tests, air route safety was carefully planned in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). For safety purposes, the Tomahawk could have been guided by commands from safety chase aircraft.

This launch marked the 391st Tomahawk flight test.