This is considered one of the USA navy's fastest and most long-range missiles. The journey of this special missile has started in the year 1983. The price of one tomahawk missile ranges from $1.8 million to $2 million.
From the beginning, the manufacturers update and increase the overall strength of this so that it can make more destruction to the land and ship. Most of the time, the US navy as well as the royal nave apply this missile to destruct the base of the opponent. Moreover, the soldiers used this long ranged missile in 1991 during Persian Gulf War.
Later, the USA and UK use tomahawk for different wars. In this article, we will discuss the cost of this under different circumstances. We also illustrate the features of this so that readers can understand the consequences of this.
Price of tomahawk missile by its type
At present, people will find two categories of this missile. In the past, there were many variations of this. However, using the recent technology, the existing long-range missiles are upgraded with more speed and accuracy. Now, two types of tomahawk are available in the market and price ranges are given below through a table.
Name of the variation | Price range |
Block IV | $1.5 million to $1.9 million |
Block V | $2 million to $2.2 million |
General Dynamics started to produce this land attack missile firstly. Then other manufacturing companies take the responsibility to produce this. At present, Raytheon Missiles & Defense produce and upgraded the missiles of tomahawk.
In Block IV, the manufacturer provides a high-quality weapon control system introduced in the year 2003. After three years, this is upgraded to Block V by adding some new and exciting features with this. Therefore, that also increased the overall power of this missile as well rise its range. The government of the USA provides a good amount of budget to the Raytheon Missiles & Defense to upgrade the old version to the new one.
How much does it cost to launch 1 Tomahawk missile from the sea?
The total cost of this will be very high if we compare the cost with other types of weapons. The government of the USA needs to spend around $2.1 million to $2.5 million for launching a single tomahawk missile. Moreover, we calculate the price by considering the existing price of this.
However, in the past, the cost of firing this missile was lower than today's price. As per the US officials, they launched 59 tomahawk missiles from the Mediterranean Sea. The total cost of that event was about $5 million. Nevertheless, the price of a single one was around $830000 to $1 million.
Cost of Tomahawk missiles Trump fired on Syria
59 missiles were fired at that time to give a response to the chemical attack on the Syrian civilians. The main target of this attack was the air defense system of Syria. The price of each tomahawk missile was around $1 million. The total cost of the whole attack was estimated at $60 million.
However, the people of the USA pay more for the replacement that was happened by the latest versions. As per the report of the Market watch, the budget for producing one unit of tomahawk cost was about $1.5 million. For that reason, the governing body of the USA needs to increase the budget for that fiscal year.
Current price of tomahawk missile
The new and the latest version of this variation have improved a lot. At the start of the year 2020, the manufacturer company of this is improved the lifetime of the old ones by 15 years. Not only that, but they also increase the range significantly which is about 1550 miles. But for doing all the essential things, the budget was around $3 million for one tomahawk missile.
Apart from enhancing the capability of this, the manufacturer also makes them more survivable. They also add a comprehensive communication system so that it can work more effectively. Besides, the manufacturer also upgrades it by adding subsonic with this. Therefore, that assists to increase the overall range by 1000 miles at great speed.
Specification of tomahawk missile
There are many types of long range missiles are existed in the world. Tomahawk is considered a cruise missile and it can be used for various purposes. Russia and USA are very much good at producing this type of missile for creating massive destruction on the battlefield and land.
This is very much necessary to know all the detailed things about the missile. Otherwise one cannot make the comparison so easily. In the next table, we narrate the key features of this table through table.
Weight | 1300 kg 1600 kg with booster |
Diameter | 20.4 inches |
Length | 5.56 6.25 m with booster |
Wingspan | 2.67 m |
Maximum speed | 567.7 mph |
Range | 1000 miles to 1700 miles |
In the above table, we illustrate some key specifications of tomahawk missiles. The strength and overall dimension of this are so powerful. Moreover, the range of this missile depends on the updated version. If we talk about the range of it for the Block III version, the distance is about 800 miles to 1300 miles.
On the other hand, the latest model of this missile is capable of providing over 1600 miles of range at great speed. The manufacturer tries its best to make it one of the most powerful cruise missiles in the world.
How many Tomahawks does the USA have?
The navy of America has 4000 missiles of this category by the record of 2020. But, all of them are not in good condition. Some of them need to be updated immediately for avoiding damage. The value of one missile of this was above $1 million in the year 2020.
Therefore, the governing body of the USA asked for $300 million to update the missile and make them ready for use. In this process, they aim to increase the overall lifetime by 15 years. Moreover, the navy of the USA made a plan to update 90 missiles per year. Nevertheless, they aim to 1400 blocks by the middle of the year 2030.
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How many Tomahawks does the UK have?
United Kingdom is considered a close ally of the USA. As per the report of 2014, the number of the missile in the UK was about 65. They also placed an order in the year 1995 for purchasing the same amount of tomahawk missiles.
Moreover, at that time, Britain had 214 of it. But they use a good number of them in the war in Afghanistan, Iraq and so on. The governor committee of the USA is very much positive to sell this missile to the UK. Additionally, they also signed an agreement about the contract of selling 65 tomahawks missile to Britain in the year 2003.
Cost Analysis
The navy of the USA, UK and Australia have used this missile to strengthen their defence and attack long range objectives. In future, the Canadian troops of the navy will also use this as per the recent report. Therefore, the price of this is so expensive than other kinds of missiles which are about $1.8 million to $2 million.
Source: Tomahawk (missile)
