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This Is Not Your Father’s Tomahawk Cruise Missile

The new Block V can run down enemy ships and blast them with a half-ton high explosive warhead.

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• The new missiles can attack enemy ships at sea or land targets with a new multi-effect warhead.
• The Tomahawk design is nearly half a century old but with the help of rolling upgrades has remained a viable weapon system.

The Tomahawk cruise missile, one of the oldest missiles in U.S. military service, is set to receive a new set of capabilities designed to help keep potential enemies in check.

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The missile’s new Block V configuration will include both new anti-shipping and land attack variants, boosting the capabilities of the U.S. Navy surface warships that carry them.

The Tomahawk is one of the most effective missiles in the Pentagon’s history. The missile, which General Dynamics first designed in the 1970s, was one of the first truly effective cruise missiles. Unlike traditional missiles that use rocket motors, fly high altitudes, and travel at Mach 2+ speeds, cruise missiles use turbojet engines, fly at low altitudes, and travel at subsonic speeds.

Most missiles are designed to sprint to their targets; Tomahawk is designed to run a marathon. Engineers chose a liquid fuel-sipping turbojet engine because it enabled greater range than a rocket engine of roughly the same size. A slower speed also makes low altitude flight more viable, which in turn makes the missile much more difficult to detect by radar. Today, most advanced countries operate similar low-flying subsonic missiles, including Russia, China, France, and South Korea.

Despite its age, the Tomahawk has stayed in the game through a series of progressive upgrades. The original Block I version included both nuclear-tipped and anti-ship versions of the missile. Block II introduced land attack capabilities, like those demonstrated during the 1991 Gulf War, with missiles striking Iraqi Air Force airfields and daytime targets across the Iraqi capital of Baghdad. Block III added GPS, eliminating a time-consuming programming system that required 80 hours to plot a missile’s course as well as a loitering capability.

Block IV Tomahawks added more features, including the ability to be re-routed to new targets in mid-flight. Block IV missiles also feature a camera and datalink, allowing a missile to send imagery back to friendly forces. If a Tomahawk discovers its target already struck or civilians are crowding the target area, the missile can be re-routed to destroy something else.

Now, Block V is where it gets really interesting.

The newest variant adds upgraded navigation and communications gear to older Tomahawks, electronics that, according to Defense News , make it easier to work through electronic warfare jamming and more difficult for enemy radars to detect. That’s important, because once detected, subsonic cruise missiles are relatively easy to shoot down. Block V then forks into two missiles, Block Va and Block Vb.

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Block Va essentially turns the cruise missile into an anti-ship missile. Also known as Maritime Strike Tomahawk, Block Va adds a seeker kit, including sensor, giving it the ability to strike moving targets at sea at ranges in excess of 1,000 miles. It’s not clear if Block Va can still strike land targets.

Block Vb is more oriented toward striking land targets with the new Joint Multiple Effects Warhead (MEWS). The weapon is a bit mysterious, but it seems to be a 1,000-pound warhead capable of striking both surface and underground hardened targets, including “integrated air defense systems and weapons of mass destruction” .

The great thing about Block V is that, unlike the Navy’s current anti-ship missile, it doesn’t need separate launchers. Block Vs will fit in any Mk. 41 vertical launch system silo—the same silo that currently carries Standard anti-air missiles, the SM-3 missile interceptor, Evolved Sea Sparrow interceptor missiles, and vertical launch anti-submarine rockets.

Today’s guided missile cruisers carry 122 silos, while destroyers carry between 90 and 96 silos. Theoretically, a cruiser could carry up to 122 Block Va missiles, though a more rounded mix of all of the above is preferred. Block V will also arm U.S. Navy submarines.

Like a lot of weapons in America’s arsenal, the Tomahawk missile is old—at least in concept. What started out as a nuclear-capable missile can now hunt down warships at 1,000 miles and attack hardened underground targets. The missile’s ability to adapt with the times, take on new roles, and reinvent itself means it will be a potent weapon system for easily another decade to come.

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Kyle Mizokami is a writer on defense and security issues and has been at Popular Mechanics since 2015. If it involves explosions or projectiles, he's generally in favor of it. Kyle’s articles have appeared at The Daily Beast, U.S. Naval Institute News, The Diplomat, Foreign Policy, Combat Aircraft Monthly, VICE News , and others. He lives in San Francisco.

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Tomahawk at a Glance

Tomahawk Development

The U.S. Navy began its development of sea-launched cruise missiles in 1972. 2 The Tomahawk was designed to fly at subsonic speed while maintaining a low altitude, making it difficult to detect on radar. It uses tailored guidance systems to maneuver while at such low elevations.

There were three original Tomahawk designs, the nuclear-tipped TLAM-N, the ground-launched Gryphon, and the conventional TASM.

BGM-109G Gryphon

In late 1970s, the U.S. Navy sought a precision land attack cruise missile capable of a much smaller CEP. Two Block II versions were produced; the TLAM-C and the TLAM-D.

Service History

The Tomahawk was first deployed in combat in the 1991 Gulf War in Operation Desert Storm, with the first salvo launched from the USS Paul F. Foster (DD 964) at Iraqi targets. 18 Overall, the mission achieved initial success.

However, before GPS guidance was implemented, the Tomahawk faced serious navigation issues in 2003’s Operation Iraqi Freedom. Due to the indistinct desert terrain in region, the missile’s TERCOM system was not adequate to guide the missile to its targets in Iraq. 19 Approximately ten Tomahawks drifted off course and crashed (”clobbered”) into the ground in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Iran in the initial phase of Iraqi Freedom. 20

• “Tomahawk Cruise Missile,” United States Navy Fact File, August 14, 2014, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2
• “Tomahawk Cruise Missile,” United States Navy Fact File, August 14, 2014, http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact_display.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2.
• Sam LaGrone, “West: U.S. Navy Anti-Ship Tomahawk Set for Surface Ships, Subs Starting in 2021,” USNI News , February 18, 2016, https://news.usni.org/2016/02/18/west-u-s-navy-anti-ship-tomahawk-set-for-surface-ships-subs-starting-in-2021.
• “Tomahawk Long-Range Cruise Missile,” Naval Technology, http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/tomahawk-long-range-cruise-missile/.
• “RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk,” in IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, ed. James C. O’Halloran (United Kingdom: IHS, 2015), 219-223.
• “General Dynamics/McDonnell Douglas BGM-109G Gryphon” National Museum of the Air Force, April 26, 2011.http://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=18194.
• Missile Defense Project, “Tomahawk,” Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, September 19, 2016, last modified June 15, 2018, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/ .
• Fuller, Malcolm. “Tomahawk/RGM/UGM-109B/C/D/E” Jane’s Weapons: Naval. December 17, 2012.
• Department of the Navy, Naval Vessel Historical Evaluation – Paul F. Foster Final Determination (Washington, DC: 2013), https://www.navsea.navy.mil/Portals/103/Documents/TeamShips/SEA21/InactiveShips/Historic/2013/EDD964-Paul-F.-Foster-Final-DOI.pdf.
• “The Tomahawk Missile’s First Mission Was Over…Iran?,” War on the Rocks, April 6, 2015, https://warisboring.com/the-tomahawk-missile-s-first-mission-was-over-iran/.
• Jeffrey Lewis, ”Why the Navy Should Retire TLAM-N,” Arms Control Wonk (blog), December 13, 2009, https://www.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/202560/why-the-navy-should-retire-tlam-n/.
• “What is a Tomahawk Missile?” History.com, April 7, 2017, https://www.history.com/news/what-is-a-tomahawk-missile.
• NBC News, “U.S. Launches Missiles at Syrian Base Over Chemical Weapons Attack,” NBC News, April 7, 2017, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/u-s-launches-missiles-syrian-base-after-chemical-weapons-attack-n743636.

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US Navy set to receive latest version of the Tomahawk missile

WASHINGTON — Raytheon plans to deliver next week the first of the U.S. Navy’s new Block V Tomahawk , an upgraded version of the service’s venerable land-attack missile that will ultimately include the ability to target ships at sea at extended ranges.

The new Block V , when fully realized in its Block Va and Block Vb varieties, will be expected to hit surface ships at Tomahawk ranges — in excess of 1,000 miles — with the integration of a new seeker. It also will integrate a new warhead with a broader range of capabilities, including greater penetrating power.

Tomahawk’s range is especially important in the Asia-Pacific region, where China’s rocket force has extraordinary reach with its DF-26 and DF-21 missiles, with ranges of 2,490 and 1,335 miles respectively, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

The U.S. Navy’s news missiles are destined not just for the vertical launching systems on surface ships but also on attack submarines that can more easily operate inside the range of China’s rocket force .

The Navy is expected to make a decision on the future of the Tomahawk weapon in 2021, but the signs seem to point to its continuation. The service has had a long-running search for a next-generation land-attack missile, but a recent analysis of alternatives led to the Navy restarting the Tomahawk line and upgrading its current inventory.

In the Navy’s 2021 budget documents submitted last year, the service said it had yet to determine the future of the missile. But in testimony before the House Armed Services Committee, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, Adm. Phil Davidson, specifically cited the anti-ship Maritime Strike Tomahawk specifically and the surface-strike variant of the SM-6 as capabilities needed by the Marine Corps in its quest to hold Chinese ships at risk from shore-based missiles.

“What the Marine Corps has asked for have already been developed in the [Navy] and is employed on Navy ships, things like Maritime Strike Tomahawk, SM-6. These are immediate capabilities that I think should be made available to the Marine Corps,” Davidson said.

Advances in missile technology might actually be helping the Tomahawk’s cause to stay in the Navy’s vertical launching system missile tubes longer, according to Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

A landing craft, utility lowers its ramp to unload a U.S. Marine Corps High Mobility Artillery Rocket System as part of a simulated amphibious raid on Okinawa in 2019. (Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Joshua Sechser)

The combination of the SM-6, the new 100-plus-mile ranged anti-ship Naval Strike Missile bound for the littoral combat ships and next-generation frigate, and the Block V upgrades on Tomahawk will give the Navy’s weapons a place in the service’s vertical launching system cells for some time to come, Clark said in a December interview.

“Between Tomahawk Block V, the SM-6 and the NSM, the Navy has a collection of attack weapons that they are happy with,” he said, adding that a long-running effort to develop a next-generation land-attack weapon has lost some of its urgency.”

That means as hypersonic cruise missiles make developmental progress, the Navy will likely make do with its current generation of weapons instead of embarking on an expensive next-generation land-attack weapons program.

“What’s happening in parallel is in the development of hypersonic missile that are a smaller form factor than the boost-glide weapons that are coming to maturity now,” Clark said. “And if they can get it down to being able to fit in [the Mark 41], then that could provide the Navy a next-generation capability that is more survivable and has a shorter time of flight.

“So I think this combination of missiles the Navy has now, combined with the fact that the hypersonic weapons are coming along a little further out, means the Navy is going to stick with what it has potentially even longer than it had originally anticipated.”

David B. Larter was the naval warfare reporter for Defense News.

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Everything To Know About Tomahawk Missiles: Speed, Cost, And Destructive Power

Tomahawk missiles have been world famous since the first Gulf War in 1991 when the United States used the missile against Saddam Hussein's forces in Iraq and Kuwait. Since then, the missile system has been used in nearly every conflict the United States has been involved in, including recent strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen. Given the weapon's ubiquity, it's worth exploring what exactly a Tomahawk missile is. The United States Navy reports that over 2,300 Tomahawks have been deployed in combat, with that number increasing by the day.

According to the Missile Defense Project from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Tomahawk (full name Tomahawk Land Attack Missile) has been in service since 1983 and were first developed for the United States Navy starting in 1972. It was designed to be launched from ships or submarines and was, from the outset, made with nuclear payloads in mind. However, nuclear-armed Tomahawks have not been used in combat and are currently deactivated.

Slow and steady

The Tomahawk missile itself is a 20.3 foot long craft with a wingspan of eight and a half feet, and it weighs 3,330 pounds with all of its components. It's powered by both a rocket booster and turbofan jet engine made by Williams International. According to PBS, the rocket booster engine launches the Tomahawk in the air (hence all the smoke you may see in news broadcasts or photos you see of the missile) and then its jet engine takes the missile the rest of the way to its target.

Despite being powered by rockets and a jet engine, the Tomahawk missile itself isn't that fast, at least comparatively. It reportedly travels at a speed of around 550 miles per hour. An F-16 fighter jet tops out at 1,500 miles per hour and the much larger Minuteman III ballistic missile can reach speeds of up to 15,000 miles per hour. Supposedly, the Tomahawk's relatively low speed helps it avoid radar systems more efficiently. Additionally, it flies at an altitude of between 100 and 300 feet, much lower than conventional fighter aircraft.

Range and power

The actual payload of the Tomahawk can consist of a number of different munitions. But the primary warhead of the Tomahawk is a 1,000-pound high explosive charge. It can also carry cluster munitions consisting of small bomblets, similar to the ATACMS currently used in Ukraine . For explosive force, Tomahawks were more than enough to disable runways or sink ships.

The exact guidance system and navigational dynamics of the Tomahawk missile are classified. However, it is known that it can use GPS or inertial guidance systems to hit the target. Additionally, the U.S. Navy states that up to 15 targets can be pre-programmed for missile salvos. The Tomahawk is capable of "loitering," meaning that, provided the missile has enough fuel, it can fly around in circles to relay information or wait for the right target. It has a range of around 1,500 miles, meaning that the ship or submarine launching the missile is well out of harm's way. It is accurate to within 10 meters.

The Tomahawk's combat history

The Tomahawk is primarily made by Raytheon Missile Systems. According to budget data from the United States Marine Corps from 2022, each Tomahawk costs around $2 million. As of now, the United States and the United Kingdom are the only countries to deploy Tomahawk missiles, although Australia and Japan have put out bids to purchase Tomahawks.

The U.S. Navy states that 140 total craft are capable of launching Tomahawks. That number consists of Ohio-class submarines, Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, and more. The United States Army has also tested launching Tomahawks from ground-based platforms. The USS Missouri, a World War II-era battleship and the very last of its kind, was fitted to fire Tomahawks during the opening salvos of the First Gulf War. It fired a total of 28 cruise missiles, in addition to its 16-inch deck guns.

The submarines USS Louisville and USS Pittsburgh launched Tomahawks in 1991 at targets in Iraq and became the first submarines to fire Tomahawks while submerged.

Several decades of service

Outside of the Gulf War, Tomahawks were used to attack Iraq several more times in the 1990s, against Bosnian targets in 1995, during NATO actions against Yugoslavia, and during the engagements against Afghanistan after 9/11. More recently, Tomahawks saw use in Libya as part of Operation Odyssey Dawn, ISIS in Syria experienced the effects of Tomahawks, and Syrian chemical weapons facilities used by despot Bashar Al-Assad were struck by Tomahawks in 2017. In 2024, both American and British forces launched Tomahawks against Houthi rebels after the rebel group attacked shipping lanes and US-flagged vessels in the Red Sea.

Raytheon reports that the Tomahawk missile could stay in service until at least 2035. By that time, the cruise missile will have eclipsed 50 years of service. With its long range, ability to be launched practically anywhere in the world from above or below the waves, and its accuracy, the Tomahawk has proved literally thousands of times that it is a vital part of the arsenals of the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy.

U.S. Navy Trains JMSDF Sailors on Tomahawk Cruise Missile

The u.s. navy has completed the first round of a training program for the japan maritime self-defense force (jmsdf) on how to handle u.s.-made long-range tomahawk cruise missiles..

Kosuke Takahashi 02 Apr 2024

Japan plans to acquire the Tomahawk cruise missiles from fiscal year 2025 to 2027.

Around 25 JMSDF sailors went aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell at Yokosuka Naval Base, homeport of the U.S. Navy’s 7th Fleet, in the five-day program that started on March 25 and finished on March 29.

“The Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces are strengthening its stand-off defense capabilities in order to disrupt and defeat the forces invading Japan early and from far away,” Japan’s Defense Minister Minoru Kihara said at a press conference on March 29.

“As a part of our effort, regarding Tomahawk, the United States Navy has been conducting a training course for JMSDF personnel starting from March 25th. In this course, the U.S. Navy provides expertise required for the operation of Tomahawk missile,” Kihara said, adding that U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel announced the U. S. will continue to conduct such training every other month.

“What does credible deterrence look like? Building Japan’s crucial counterstrike capability with week one of Tomahawk cruise missile training at US Navy Yokosuka. Welcome to a new era in strength, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region,” Emanuel wrote on X on March 28, along with four photos taken with U.S. Navy members.

What does credible deterrence look like? Building Japan’s crucial counterstrike capability with week one of Tomahawk cruise missile training at @USNavy Yokosuka. Welcome to a new era in strength, security and stability in the Indo-Pacific region. pic.twitter.com/Puy28jM9HX — ラーム・エマニュエル駐日米国大使 (@USAmbJapan) March 28, 2024

The training program is are the first round of JMSDF personnel to learn the basic procedure for launching a Tomahawk using real equipment from U.S. sailors from the Surface Combat Systems Training Command Western Pacific in the McCampbell ’s combat information center (CIC), the tactical heart of the vessel.

Inside the McCampbell ’s CIC, they participated in a simulated missile strike mission to learn the inner workings of the Tomahawks and their control systems, Stars & Stripes reported on March 28 , citing Cmdr. Mike Arnold, the training command officer in charge.

“In a dimly lit CIC illuminated by blue light, an JMSDF member sat in front of a screen, operated equipment and enthusiastically asked questions to American sailors,” Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun newspaper also reported on the training on the same day.

The five-day training followed Japan’s signing of a letter of acceptance (LOA) in January to buy up to 400 Tomahawks from the US to beef up its counterstrike capabilities against enemy missile sites and other targets. This contract was worth about 254 billion yen ($1.7 billion) with the U.S. Government. Asked about the future schedule, Kihara said at the press conference that in addition to the training this time around, based on the LOA concluded in January, the JMSDF will receive training from the U.S. side to train personnel related to more advanced Tomahawk operations in time for the Tomahawk acquisition starting in FY2025.

The Tomahawks will be fitted aboard four classes of JMSDF Aegis-equipped destroyers:

• Kongo-class
• Atago-class

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Tucson-based Raytheon Missiles & Defense has delivered the newest version of its combat-proven Tomahawk cruise missile to the Navy, touting improvements designed to keep the venerable weapon relevant for years to come.

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What Is a Tomahawk Missile?

By: Martin Stezano

Updated: August 30, 2018 | Original: April 7, 2017

History of the Tomahawk cruise missile

The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is an American-developed weapon classified as a cruise missile, which is an unmanned jet-propelled aircraft that uses guidance systems to seek and destroy targets.

The missiles are approximately 21 feet long, weigh 1.5 tons and can be launched from both traditional torpedo tubes and vertical launch tubes on modern submarines. Once the Tomahawk is in the air, the turbojet engine kicks in and its wings spread, allowing it to reach speeds of 500 miles per hour.

The sophisticated guidance system uses a combination of GPS, TERCOM (Terrain Contour Matching) and DSMAC (Digital Scene-Matching Area Correlator) to ensure the missile accurately destroys its target. TERCOM uses radar signals, while DSMAC uses optical images stored in the electronic system. As it closes in on its target, the missile drops to an altitude of 100 feet or less before impact. In layman’s terms, this type of missile is designed to be used at great distances, with pinpoint accuracy, minimizing risk to personnel and civilians.

What sets the Tomahawk apart from other types of munitions is that combination of size, speed, distance and trajectory. Traditional saturation bombing–in which hundreds of bombs are dropped from a plane–is powerful, but not accurate. Saturation bombing also requires the use of a pilot and crew, which endangers personnel. Ballistic missiles, like the Scud, can travel greater distances at faster speeds, but require much bigger launching pads and a lot more fuel, meaning they can’t be used as covertly The Tomahawk is smaller and flies lower than other missiles, making them harder to detect and intercept.

Development of what would become the Tomahawk began in the 1940s, but the emergence of the Polaris ballistic missile program led to its shelving. Technological advances made it possible for the missile to be revisited in the 1970s, and the new weapon was introduced by defense contractor McConnell Douglas in 1983.

Initially, there were three types of Tomahawk missile: an anti-ship one with conventional warheads, and two land-attack versions with either nuclear or conventional warheads attached. Today, only the land-attack, conventional non-nuclear version is in use. Improvements have been made on the original design, and today’s more accurate and more powerful versions are manufactured by Raytheon.

The Tomahawk Missile in Use

The Tomahawk made its debut in live combat during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. On January 17, the USS Paul F. Foster launched the first Tomahawk missile, and nearly 300 additional missiles were launched from U.S. Navy ships and submarines in subsequent days of the conflict. The new weapon proved instrumental in bringing a swift end to the war.

Production of the missile ramped up after that, and hundreds of Tomahawks were used throughout the 1990s. On December 16, 1998, 415 missiles were fired at Iraqi targets during Operation Desert Fox, after Saddam Hussein refused to abide by United Nations-mandated inspections. They were also used by NATO forces in early 1999, during Operation Allied Force operations against targets in Serbia and Montenegro. More than 800 Tomahawks were launched during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, and other successful deployments include Afghanistan, Somalia and Libya.

Use of the missile has not been without controversy. On December 17, 2009, 41 civilians–mostly women and children–were killed by missiles targeting an alleged Al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen. Although U.S. and Yemeni government officials initially denied responsibility, an investigation by Amnesty International—and revelations by WikiLeaks—eventually concluded that the missiles had been American Tomahawks launched from a naval vessel.

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Japanese Soldiers Complete US-Led Tomahawk Land Attack Missile Training

The Japan Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces have completed a Tomahawk land attack missile training under the US Navy in Yokosuka.

The week-long exercise included lessons based on the US Department of Defense’s naval cruise missile curriculum, which involves coordinating shipboard weapons operations as a prerequisite to Full Operational Capability of missile systems.

At the training, Japanese warfighters undertook classroom sessions, walkthroughs, and demonstrations of Tomahawk missiles aboard the USS McCampbell (DDG 85) Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer.

They also received a hands-on review of the subsonic weapon’s control system consoles and corresponding equipment.

The training concluded with the participants showcasing skills in a generic strike mission simulation, the US Navy wrote.

“It was a privilege to conduct Cruise Missile Command training with our Japan Self-Defense Force counterparts over the past few days,” US Surface Combat Systems Training Command Western Pacific Officer in Charge Cmdr. Michael Arnold stated .

“This training marks a significant milestone in Japan’s strategic acquisition of the Tomahawk Weapon Control System and our collaborative first step in mastering this new capability.”

“Together, we fortify our alliance, demonstrating our united commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific and upholding the principles that ensure regional peace, stability, and a rules-based international order.”

Sustaining Deterrence

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel visited the Tomahawk training’s shipboard phase and commented on the event.

“We are ahead of schedule, and that’s exactly what we have to do to keep up deterrence and maintain operations within this area of operations,” he said.

“We will give our partners, our allies, the Japanese Navy, the capacity that they are investing in. This is not a one and done, this is going to happen again.”

The Tomahawk Missile

Introduced in the 1980s, the Tomahawk is an all-weather capability commonly used by the US Navy surface and subsurface fleets against enemies ashore.

The weapon is powered by a turbofan engine for a maximum speed of 885 kilometers (559 miles) per hour.

It can carry high-explosive, combined effects, submunitions, or thermonuclear warheads.

Depending on the version, the missile can neutralize threats from 460 to over 1,600 kilometers (286 to 994 miles) away.

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Japanese sailors begin Tomahawk training ahead of missile delivery

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force officers train on Tomahawk cruise missiles aboard the USS McCampbell at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on March 28, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — U.S. sailors aboard the guided-missile destroyer USS McCampbell coached their Japanese counterparts Thursday as Japan prepares to receive its first shipments of Tomahawk cruise missiles sometime next year.

Around 25 Japanese sailors and airmen in the five-day program that ends Friday are the first round of students to learn the inner workings of the Tomahawks and their control systems. The training at Yokosuka, homeport of the 7th Fleet, is one milestone before the U.S. begins delivering the 400 Tomahawk missiles promised to Japan as part of a $2.35 billion deal.

“When the Tomahawks are delivered, we don’t start the training then,” U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel told reporters aboard the McCampbell on Thursday. “We’re ahead of schedule because the delivery is going to be ahead of schedule.”

This week’s training is the first round, with additional rounds scheduled every two months, Emanuel said. Training will also likely continue after the missiles are delivered, he said.

“I expect the Japanese navy to do what our Navy officers do all the time, which is to be constantly training and upgrading skills,” he said the news conference.

Japan in 2022 announced plans to buy as many as 500 Tomahawks with delivery in fiscal years 2026 and 2027.

U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, center, discusses Tomahawk training with U.S. Navy and Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel aboard the USS McCampbell at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on March 28, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)

U.S Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, right, and Vice Adm. Fred Kacher, U.S. 7th Fleet commander, discuss with reporters the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force training with Tomahawk missiles aboard the USS McCampbell at Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, on March 28, 2024. (Alex Wilson/Stars and Stripes)

In October, the country’s Defense Ministry expressed a desire to fast-track the purchase. The Pentagon on Nov. 17 agreed to the deal, which includes 400 cruise missiles, 14 weapons systems, software, technical support and associated equipment. The first deliveries are expected sometime in fiscal 2025.

The purchase is part of a massive investment Japan has made into its defense. Japan’s Cabinet in December approved its largest-ever defense budget, which amounts to 7.95 trillion yen, or about $55.9 billion.

That investment, Emanuel said, is “100% in weapons and equipment” and is not an investment in more personnel or an attempt to increase the size of the Japan Self-Defense Force.

Emanuel said he is focused on completing the impending deliveries and could not comment on possible further sales.

“Before we even talk about more, we have a responsibility to get the first 400 and we’re on schedule to do that,” he said.

On Thursday, Japanese sailors and airmen worked studiously with U.S. sailors from the Surface Combat Systems Training Command Western Pacific in the McCampbell’s combat information center, the tactical heart of the ship. There, they participated in a simulated missile strike mission, according to Cmdr. Mike Arnold, the training command officer in charge.

“This was the cruise missile commander’s course,” Arnold told Stars and Stripes on Thursday on the McCampbell. The training, he added, covered overall capabilities of the missile, how to deal with casualties, tactics and how to “manipulate and execute the weapons system itself.”

Personnel from another six or seven commands were also in the training, according to Capt. Justin Harts, commodore of Destroyer Squadron 15.

“It gets to be sort of an alphabet soup of commands that are involved in any one of these operations,” he said. “And then there’s a whole host of commands in the States where the Japanese sailors are going to learn their individual jobs.”

The training is successfully increasing Japanese personnel’s capabilities with the missile and doing so “ensures a peaceful and stable Indo-Pacific region,” Cmdr. Yuhi Iwamori, spokesman for Japan’s Maritime Staff Office, told Stars and Stripes on Thursday.

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US navy starts Tomahawk cruise missile training for Japan Self-Defense Forces

The US Navy has begun training for Japan's Self-Defense Forces on how to handle Tomahawk cruise missiles that Japan decided to purchase from the United States.

A five-day initial training session started on Monday, following Japan's signing of a contract early this year to buy up to 400 Tomahawks from the US to beef up its counterstrike capabilities against enemy missile sites and other targets.

On Thursday, some Japanese and US media were allowed to cover the training involving around 20 SDF personnel. It was conducted inside a US Aegis destroyer at anchor in Yokosuka navy base, south of Tokyo.

The US Navy explained that the training on Thursday included learning the basic procedure for launching a Tomahawk using real equipment.

The official said that while the initial training will end on Friday, an advanced Tomahawk training program for the SDF is scheduled to take place in the near future.

US Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel inspected the training on Thursday. He said that this is a real scenario-based training. He said it will give the US partner and ally, the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force, the capacity that they are investing in.