By Sandra Schroeder
NAVAIR Public Affairs, PEO(W)

A U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile was launched today at 10:00 a.m. EDT from USS MIAMI (SSN755), a submerged LOS ANGELES-Class submarine underway in the Jacksonville, Fla., operating areas. The missile flew a land attack mission, launching from a point in the Atlantic sea ranges east of Jacksonville. It then flew an east to west course across the northern sector of Florida, out over the Gulf of Mexico, turned north across the panhandle of Florida and safely terminated on the Eglin Air Force Base Test Range.

Seconds after launch from the submarine’s vertical launch system, the Tomahawk missile transitioned to cruise flight. It flew a fully guided 449-mile test flight using digital scene matching area correlation and global positioning satellite navigation 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 missiles are deployed throughout the world’s oceans on numerous surface ships and submarines, including AEGIS-Class Cruisers, Guided Missile Destroyers, and SEAWOLF and LOS ANGELES-Class submarines.

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.

While maintaining its deep strike capability, Tomahawk continues to evolve to meet the warfighters’ needs for a more flexible and tactical precision strike weapon. The next generation of Tomahawk, the Tactical Tomahawk, took flight last month at the NAVAIR Western Test Range Complex in California as part of the contractor test and evaluation phase. The Tactical Tomahawk will boast several enhancements including mission planning onboard the launch platform, in-flight retargeting, loiter and battle damage assessment capability, and in-flight health and status reports. These capabilities increase fleet effectiveness, while significantly reducing acquisition and life cycle costs.

Today marked the 400th Tomahawk flight test.

The Tomahawk program is managed by the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation. The manufacturer of the Tomahawk is Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Az.