Posted on 12/03/2009 4:38:25 AM PST by ErnstStavroBlofeld
Over the last quarter century, the U.S. Navy has bought over 6,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles, but fired only about 2,000 of them in combat or training. As the older missiles age, they must either be destroyed , or refurbished. The missiles are stored in a sealed container, which they are also fired from. Sensors monitor the state of missile components, and these are replaced as needed. But after a while, it's time for a refurb, or dismantling and disposal. Lately, the navy has been refurbishing about 250 Tomahawks a year, at a cost of about $200,000 each. It's a lot cheaper than buying new ones. More recent models of the Tomahawk are equipped with sensors that report the status of many components, enabling missiles to be kept in shape with periodic maintenance and replacement of failing components. This does not eliminate refurbishment, but makes the process less frequent and cheaper.
(Excerpt) Read more at strategypage.com ...
Beautiful warbird! What never ceases to amaze me whenever I go to an airshow or museum is how SMALL those aircraft were, ALL of them.
Maybe instead of refurbishing them, we should USE them on Iranian nuclear facilities...
I totally CONCUR!
All current Tomahawk missles are nuclear-capable, are they not?
Approximately 320 W80-0/SCLM warheads on Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles (SCLMs) are in the operational arsenal for deployment on submarines.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.