The US Navy has given Raytheon Missiles & Defense the go ahead on production of the latest Block of the venerable Tomahawk cruise missile. The Block V variant will start work later this year, giving the missile a life extension of 15 years plus increased capabilities. A remnant of the Cold War, the Tomahawk was first conceived in the 1970s as a modular, highly precise, land-attack missile that could be easily modified to carry both conventional and nuclear weapons.
The subsonic missile could only fly at Mach 0.74 (550 mph, 480 kn, 890 km/h), but it could be launched from the ground, ships, submarines, or as a stand-off weapon from bombers. In addition, its ability to hug the ground for 1,000 miles (1,600 km) as it flew mades it extremely stealthy, with hostile forces not even aware that one was approaching until something blew up...MORE
