The US Navy successfully modified a Raytheon Tomahawk land-attack missile (TLAM) in 2015 to enable it to hit a moving target at sea, according to USNI News.
In a January 27, 2015, test off San Nicolas Island, California, the Navy launched a TLAM which was guided into a moving maritime target through directions given by a Boeing F/A-18E/F Super Hornet flying overhead. TLAMs are capable of changing their direction mid-course
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Then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work, the Pentagon’s second-highest-ranked civilian, praised the successful test of the missile during a keynote speech at the WEST 2015 conference. He said the missiles were part of the Pentagon’s “Third Offset Strategy,” an initiative focused on research into new long-range weapons.
“A big part of the Third Offset Strategies is to find new and innovative ways to deploy promising technologies,” Work said. “This is potentially a game-changing capability for not a lot of cost. It’s a 1000-mile anti-ship cruise missile.”
TLAMs were already used for land attack missions against static targets. By converting TLAMs into missiles capable of penetrating thickly armored vessels at sea, the Navy plugs a serious gap in its current weapons capabilities. According to USNI News, TLAMs have been converted into anti-ship missiles that can be used aboard the Navy’s newer guided-missile destroyers, which currently cannot utilize the service’s antiquated RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile.
The converted TLAMs would have a range of almost 1,000 nautical miles, allowing the United States to maintain a considerable edge over rival naval powers. One of China’s most significant new military advancements is its development of advanced anti-ship cruise missiles. However, these missiles would only have half the range of a converted TLAM.
If fully adapted, the newest iteration of the TLAM will serve as a stopgap measure until the Navy’s next-generation Long Range Anti-Ship missile is ready for deployment.
Here is a video of the converted TLAM in action.
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This article originally appeared at Business Insider Copyright 2015.
