Raytheon Missile Systems, Tucson, Arizona, is awarded a not-to-exceed $493,440,000 cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee, firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract. This contract provides for recertification and modernization of Tactical Tomahawk (TACTOM) Block IV all-up round missiles to include the integration of navigation and communication kits that result in a modernized TACTOM Block V missile. Additionally, this contract provides for spare recertification, obsolescence and health monitoring, TACTOM depot, flight test and engineering support services alongside associated hardware procurements. Work will be carried out in the US at locations in Arkansas, California, Florida, Nebraska, Utah, Vermont and West Virginia. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity. Work is expected to be complete by September 2023.
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is a long-range, all-weather, jet-powered, subsonic cruise missile that is primarily used by the United States Navy and Royal Navy in ship- and submarine-based land-attack operations. It was designed and initially produced in the 1970s by General Dynamics as a medium- to long-range, low-altitude missile that could be launched from a surface platform. The missile’s modular design accommodates a wide variety of warhead, guidance, and range capabilities. At least six variants and multiple upgraded versions have been introduced since then, including air-, sub-, and ground-launched variants and conventional and nuclear-armed ones. As of 2019, only non-nuclear, sea-launched variants assembled by Raytheon are currently in service.
Beginning in 2020, the U.S. Navy will recertify and modernize the missile, extending its service life by 15 years, and resulting in the new Tomahawk Block V series:
- Block V: A modernized TACTOM with upgraded navigation and communication
- Block Va: Block V that can strike moving targets at sea
- Block Vb: Block V, with a joint multi-effects warhead that can hit more diverse land targets
U.S. and allied militaries have flight-tested the GPS-enabled Tomahawk 550 times and used it in combat more than 2,300 times. Its most recent use came in 2018, when U.S. Navy warships and submarines launched 66 Tomahawk missiles at Syrian chemical weapon facilities.
