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National Defense: The president launches attacks on the Islamic State with two weapons systems that were targeted for elimination by the administration years before their usefulness ended or any replacements were ready. With the decision to launch air and missile strikes against Islamic State targets in Syria, in addition to ongoing strikes in Iraq in what is said to be the start of a long and sustained campaign to "degrade and destroy" the terrorist group, President Obama has stumbled upon a revelation: The military whose budgets he's slashed and weapons systems he opposed is suddenly quite useful. As the Washington...

<p>Weapons procurement showed striking reductions from last year’s plans. Then, the Navy planned to buy 980 Tactical Tomahawks, the primary cruise missile in use throughout the fleet. The new plan shows only 100 missiles in 2015 and none thereafter.</p> <p>The reduction reflects shifting investment to a new next-generation land attack weapon, said Lt. Caroline Hutcheson, a Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon, who also noted that the current inventory of Block IV Tactical Tomahawks exceeds combat requirements. A recertification line for existing missiles will be established to retain effectiveness of current TacToms, she added.</p>

This ain’t your daddy’s libertarian. More to the point, this ain’t his daddy’s libertarian.First he went after Ted Cruz for trying to characterize him as a dove, now this. By the end of the year, he and McCain will be holding joint filibusters on the Senate floor demanding that America build the biggest nuclear bomb evah. Rand Paul, hawk? In the current budget, the Obama Administration called for the elimination of the Tomahawk missile. This missile protects our troops and allows us to avoid much direct person-to-person combat. Our navy has depended heavily on them…Nobody wants to cut spending, including...

President Barack Obama is proposing drastically cutting, and then eliminating, two missile programs pivotal to U.S. security, The Washington Free Beacon reported. The Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles are on the chopping block, according to Obama's budget proposal, which will cut by $128 million the Tactical Tomahawk in 2015 and eliminate it completely after that. ... It's a major turnabout from last year, when the Navy planned to buy 980 Tactical Tomahawks, the primary cruise missile in use throughout the fleet, according to Defense News. In 2015, the Navy would buy just 100 Tomahawks, the last the branch would purchase. The...

Obama Seeking to Abolish Tomahawk, Hellfire Missile Programs by Debra Heine 24 Mar 2014 947post a comment Share This: 143 281 Obama is doing that thing again that he loves to do, "which is surrender whatever advantages the country has – whichever advantages, wherever we dominate...." The president is seeking to cut two highly successful missile programs, which defense experts say have helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades. Obama's proposal they say would leave us with no functioning Tomahawk missiles past 2018. Via the Washington Free Beacon: The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s...

Let’s start with a simple question. What happens when a soldier runs out of ammunition during a firefight? First, he either retreats, or he quickly becomes killed, wounded or captured. Second, his tactical position converts from active to indefensible which imperils the strategic array of the entire battlefield. What do you call a submarine that runs out of torpedoes? Missing in action. That’s an old Navy joke that dates back to WWII. However the fundamental military concept remains true: without the ability to attack your enemy and inflict serious damage, you’re unable to influence any subsequent events on the battlefield....

President Barack Obama is seeking to abolish two highly successful missile programs that experts say has helped the U.S. Navy maintain military superiority for the past several decades. The Tomahawk missile program—known as “the world’s most advanced cruise missile”—is set to be cut by $128 million under Obama’s fiscal year 2015 budget proposal and completely eliminated by fiscal year 2016, according to budget documents released by the Navy. In addition to the monetary cuts to the program, the number of actual Tomahawk missiles acquired by the United States would drop significantly—from 196 last year to just 100 in 2015. The...

The Navy is working to make the Tomahawk missile a better bunker buster and allow it to distinguish targets on the move better. U.S. Central Command recently sponsored development and testing of a new, more penetrating Tomahawk warhead called the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System, or JMEWS, according to Capt. Joe Mauser, Tomahawk program manager. Testing analyzed the ability of the programmable warhead to integrate onto the most advanced Block IV Tomahawk missile, a weapon which can loiter over targets, send back single frame images and change course in flight via a GPS guidance system. The JMEWS would give the...

"A pair of burglars in Southern California got more than they bargained for when they broke into the home of a champion tomahawk thrower this weekend. The woman armed herself with one of her special throwing axes and chased off the intruders. She said she could have killed them had she loosed her deadly weapons, but she could not bring herself to injure the fleeing burglars.

US Navy Instruction Confirms Retirement of Nuclear Tomahawk Cruise Missile The U.S. Navy has quietly removed the nuclear Tomahawk cruise missile from its inventory, a new Secretary of the Navy Instruction shows. By Hans M. Kristensen Although the U.S. Navy has yet to make a formal announcement that the nuclear Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile (TLAM/N) has been retired, a new updated navy instruction shows that the weapon is gone. The evidence comes not in the form of an explicit statement, but from what has been deleted from the U.S. Navy’s instruction Department of the Navy Nuclear Weapons Responsibilities and Authorities...

The control system for U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missiles is being upgraded by Lockheed Martin. The company, which didn't announce the monetary value of the modernization effort, said work will focus on the Tactical Tomahawk Weapons Control System, which allows the preparation, control and launch of the missiles. The TTWCS is one of three prime components of the Tomahawk system. "Lockheed Martin is a key industry partner and continues to make significant and positive impacts directly supporting the Tomahawk Weapons System and our fleet sailors," said Navy Capt. Joe Mauser, Tomahawk program manager. "Lockheed Martin remains committed to enhancing the...

Jinxed submarine HMS Astute finally fires its first missile... and it went without a hitch Chris Slack The jinxed submarine HMS Astute has successfully fired its first missile during a test mission in the Gulf of Mexico, the Ministry of Defence has confirmed The submarine fired a series of Tomahawk missiles at up to 550 miles per hour, a spokeswoman confirmed. Each missile is 5.5-metres in length, weighs 1,300kg and has a range of 1,000 miles. The successful firing comes seven months after a crew member was killed during a shooting incident when the submarine was in dock at Southampton....

Navy Commemorates 2,000th Tomahawk Shot 8/3/2011 The Navy is scheduled to hold a commemorative ceremony aboard the guided missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) for the 2,000th Tomahawk cruise missile combat launch Aug. 5 at Naval Station Norfolk, Va. The event will recognize the USS Barry crewmembers for their role in launching the milestone missile March 19, against an air defense target in Libya, during Operation Odyssey Dawn. “It was a great feeling to have taken part in the 2,000th missile launch,” said Fire Controlman 3rd Class (SW) Luizous Houser, aboard USS Barry (DDG 52). “There were a lot of...

Tucson-made Tomahawk missiles rack up kills, bills Posted Mar 27, 2011, 12:08 pm Sharon Weinberger Center for Public Integrity In the opening days of the assault on Libya, the United States and the United Kingdom launched a barrage of at least 161 Tomahawk cruise missiles to flatten Moammar Gadhafi’s air defenses and pave the way for coalition aircraft. In fiscal terms, at a time when Congress is fighting over every dollar, the cruise missile show of military might was an expenditure of nearly a quarter of a billion dollars. Each missile cost $1.41 million. Raytheon Corp. is the manufacturer of...

Per Jennifer Griffin from Fox News reporting at the Pentagon US naval vessels have fired their first salvo of Tomahawk missiles at Libyian air defense assets. No story up yet on the website

BENGHAZI, Libya (AP) -- The U.S. and European nations pounded Moammar Gadhafi's forces and air defenses with cruise missiles and airstrikes Saturday, launching the broadest international military effort since the Iraq war in support of an uprising that had seemed on the verge of defeat. Libyan state TV claimed 48 people had been killed in the attacks, but the report could not be independently verified. The longtime Libyan leader vowed to defend his country from what he called "crusader aggression" and warned the involvement of international forces will subject the Mediterranean and North African region to danger and put civilians...

The three panels show a 1986 test of a Tomahawk cruise missile. The missile traveled 640 km (400 mile) low over the terrain to detonate above the target, a decommissioned fighter plane. It’s pretty clear the test was a success.

In the last month, three of the four American SSGNs (former ballistic missile subs each now carrying 154 cruise missiles and SEAL commando teams) appeared in the Pacific and Indian oceans (the Philippines, South Korea and Diego Garcia). Some through this was a message for China, but, in fact, the SSGNs go where the potential trouble is. When questioned, U.S. Navy officials responded that, for the first time, all four SSGNs were operating at sea, in locations distant from their bases. Two years ago, the U.S. Navy completed the conversion of the last of four Ohio class ballistic missile submarines...

As the venerable Tomahawk missile becomes too vulnerable for certain targets, naval observers have wondered why the Navy isn’t racing to fill the U.S. surface fleet’s 7,804 Vertical Launch System (VLS) cells with a new generation of anti-ship or fast land-attack munitions. Our wait is over. The big brains at DARPA are aiming to appropriate VLS cells for the Prompt Global Strike Mission. Meet ArcLight–the weapon that will change the way the world thinks about U.S. surface combatants: “The ArcLight program will design, build, and flight test a long range (> 2,000 nm) vehicle that carries a 100–200 lb payload(s)....

The guided-missile destroyer USS Sterett (DDG 104) successfully launched two Tomahawk missiles during a weeklong weapons training exercise in the Pacific Ocean June 21-25. "The missile launch was a success," said Pablo Dasalla, lead platform test coordinator, who was on board to observe the launch. According to Dasalla, the planning required to launch a Tomahawk missile takes three to four months to coordinate. The coordination involves mission planning, approval from different organizations, scheduling of range time and fulfilling requirements prior to the missile launch. The ship's crew has been preparing for the past four months to maintain its mission readiness...