The next gathering of Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelenski is scheduled for Friday. The media speculates that 1 of the topics of the talks will be the question of handing over the U.S. missiles maneuvering Tomahawk to Ukraine. Meanwhile, the US boasted that they had a fresh kind of land launcher for these missiles. Coincidence? most likely not.
BGM-109 Tomahawk, photograph of the public domain
Reports of possible transfer These weapons came to Ukraine respective days ago, but there is inactive no clarity as to how real the script is. Years ago, Americans resigned from ground-based Tomahawks – present it is simply a weapon utilized by the Navy, fired from ships (both submarines and submarines). The landing launchers in the U.S. arsenal are not adequate for a cure to share, and Ukraine does not have real naval forces. So how would she usage American rockets?
This dilemma seemed to prejudge the accuracy of the interpretation, according to which the discussion of the transfer of missiles to Kiev was to be simply a negotiating bluff. The possible of Ukrainians holding weapons capable of damaging targets even over 2.5 1000 km – within which the key elements of the Russian war device would be located – is to encourage Moscow to return to peace talks. The fact that Americans have fresh land launchers strengthens the power of this argument. Especially since the Kremlin is truly afraid of Tomahawks – it is seen by the tense reactions of Russian officials and propaganda. Why?
Hard to detect by radar
In the arsenal of the U.S. Armed Forces, fewer weapons systems have gained specified reputation as the BGM-109 maneuvering missile. For more than 4 decades, this subsonic, far-reaching means of demolition has remained a symbol of surgical precision. Work on Tomahawk began in the 1970s, in consequence to the request to make a rocket capable of gathering strategical targets without endangering crews. The inspiration was experiences from planet War II (German V-1 and V-2 structures). The engine of the spectacular improvement of rocket technology during the Cold War.
The first versions entered service in 1983, and their maker became General Dynamics and Boeing.
The rocket was intended to be universal – capable of firing from the sea and land. The land version was abandoned in 1987 after the signing of the INF Treaty (Intermediate-Range atomic Forces Treaty – Treaty on the complete elimination of short and average scope missiles) between the United States and the russian Union. In 2019, in consequence to Russia's reinforcements, INF was broken up by the US, which formally opened the way to re-implement the land version. Work in this area was continued, among others, by Oshkosh Defense, which had just presented its launcher called X-MAV. It can carry 4 BGM-109 missiles. Visually, it differs small from mobile HIMARS or Patriot launchers, which Ukrainians have been successfully utilizing for 3 years (Russians managed to destruct only a fewer specified vehicles).
Tomahawk is simply a projectile about 5.5 m long, a starting mass of 1300 kg and a scope of 1250 to 2500 km. The turbojet engine moves at about 880 km/h at a very low ceiling (30–100 m), making it hard to detect it by radar. The rocket can be equipped, among others, with a classical shrapnel-burning warhead and with a sub-amunity warhead (in the Cold War, Tomahawks besides carried atomic charges). The latest versions of the projectile let a change of mark in flight and alleged loitering, which means the ability to circulate over a specified area for a specified period of time before a decision to strike is taken. The latest anti-ship version of the Block Va (Maritime Strike) can harm moving targets at sea. Block IV and V versions usage advanced GPS navigation, TERCOM field radar, and the DSDAC (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation) system, which compares the site's image with the saved pattern, expanding hit precision.
Russia's theoretical capabilities
Tomahawk made his combat debut during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, erstwhile more than 280 missiles were launched for targets in Iraq. Since then, it has been utilized in almost all major US operation: in Kosovo (1999) for attacks on Serbia's military infrastructure, again in Iraq (2003) in massive attacks on strategical targets, in Libya (2011), as part of support for NATO operations and in Syria (in 2017 and 2018) in retaliation for the usage of chemical weapons by Bashar al-Assad's regime. In 2017, during the attack on Shajrat Air Force Base, 59 Tomahawks from 2 Arleigh Burke destroyers were launched. Despite the presence of Russian air defence systems in Syria, most missiles reached their targets. Tomahawks were besides utilized by the US in June this year in attacks on Iranian atomic objects.
According to publically available data, the United States presently has about 4,000 active Tomahawk missiles, most of which are versions of Block IV and Va. In 2023, the acquisition of 850 fresh warheads for the anti-shipping version was approved, and in 2025 the upgrade of older copies to Block V began. However, it is worth noting that the pace of production is not keeping pace with consumption – especially in the context of increasing demands from allies specified as the UK, Australia and Japan. There are so voices that in the event of a long-term conflict with an equal opponent stocks may prove insufficient.
This equal opponent is not Russia, but China. However, signals about the transportation of missiles from Ukraine force questions about Russian capabilities to fight the Tomahawks. The Russian Federation has an extended layered anti-aircraft defence that includes systems: S-400 Triumph capable of combating aerodynamic targets at a distance of up to 400 km, S-350 Witiaz, operating in average range, and Tor-M2, Buk-M3, Pancyr-S1 short and average range, mobile and designed for point protection. To this include Su-35 and MiG-31 fighters as interception support. Theoretically, Russian systems are capable of combating maneuvering missiles. However, in practice, as experience with Syria has shown, the effectiveness of Tomahawks is importantly limited. Missiles flying low, utilizing advanced navigation and trajectory variables, are hard to detect and intercept. In 2018, despite the presence of the S-400, most American rockets reached their targets.
