By NAVAIR Public Affairs

A Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) test team successfully supported a Royal Navy Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile launch, 21 June 2007, from the attack submarine HMS TRENCHANT, underway in the Gulf of Mexico test range operating areas. This was the 454th flight test of a Tomahawk missile.

The missile was launched by the submarine’s torpedo tube launch system. After transitioning to cruise flight, the missile flew a fully guided 500 nautical mile test flight using global positioning satellite and digital scene matching area correlation navigation to a target impact site on the Eglin Air Force Base land test range. Total flight time to target was seventy-five minutes.

While this was a British Royal Navy test event, the U.S. Navy’s Program Executive Office for Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO (W)) Tomahawk Weapons System Test Directorate, planned and conducted the flight test. However, members of the Royal Navy were integrated into the test team. Lt. Cdr Bruce Cotterill of the Permanent Joint Headquarters staff and Lt Jon Bush of the UK Tomahawk procurement team were attached to the Tactical Training Group Atlantic in Dam Neck, Va. as the strike control team for the test.

The U.K. Tomahawk program began in 1995 with the signing of the foreign military sale agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense. Since that time, the U.K. has procured Block III missiles, and is now procuring the torpedo tube variant of Block IV. The scheduled in-service date for U. K. Tomahawk Block IV is May 2008.

When asked to comment, Lord Drayson, Minister of State for Defense Equipment and Support, said, “I’m delighted to announce that this vital trial of the new TLAM Block IV missile has been a great success. These conventionally armed land attack missiles are the most advanced of their type in the world – able to fly further and strike targets with even greater precision. They also incorporate the latest computer technology, giving them the ability to retarget or abort missions in flight and to take their own images of the battlefield.”

“This test is a very significant milestone which gives a tangible demonstration of our ability to deliver precision attack at long range against selected targets. They will give the Royal Navy a world class capability and the ability to pre-position the missile covertly in our attack submarines gives enormous flexibility to our forces,” he continued.

The U.S. Navy was equally pleased. “The Tomahawk Cruise Missile brings enormous capability to the fight,” said Rear Adm. Tim Heely, Program Executive Officer, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation. “As we forge our path to future readiness, putting combat power to sea, it is important that we align our efforts closely with our good friends and allies of the United Kingdom,” he continued.

Several capability enhancements have been realized with the development of Tomahawk Block IV. They include: in-flight retargeting, missile health and status messages, mission planning aboard the launch platform, and battle damage indication messages. Additionally, the program realizes improved affordability with a production cost approximately 50 percent of the cost of a new Block III missile.

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.

The Tomahawk program is managed by the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO (W)) co-located at the NAVAIR complex in Patuxent River, Md. The missile is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Az. Tomahawk is a registered trademark of the United States Navy.

POC – Adolph A. Mitchell, PAO (acting) [PEO (W)]
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Photo Caption: Block IV Tomahawk cruise missile launched from Royal Navy's HMS Trenchant in Gulf of Mexico heads towards target at Eglin Air Force base, Fl.