Raytheon To Upgrade US Navy’s Block IV Tomahawk Missile Equipment

Raytheon has won a $29.6 million contract to upgrade US Navy’s Block IV Tomahawk test and related equipment.

The contract includes upgrade of system Integration Laboratory, the Air Vehicle System Integration Laboratory, hot-benches, automated flight test equipment and associated test equipment, the US Department of Defense said in a statement Monday.

Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile can be launched from a ship or a submarine, and can fly into heavily defended airspace more than 1,000 miles away to conduct strikes on targets with minimal collateral damage. The cruise missile is designed to circle for hours above or away from its target and change course on command. Moreover, the missile has the capability to send an image of its target to controllers just before it hits the target. The latest Block IV variant includes a two-way satellite data-link that enables the missile to be retargeted in flight to pre-programmed, alternate target.