NAVAIR At Work

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NAVAIR At Work: Submarine USS LOUISVILLE Launches Tomahawk in West Coast Test

A U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile was launched this week from USS LOUISVILLE (SSN-724), a submerged LOS ANGELES-Class submarine underway in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern Calif. The missile flew a land attack mission, launching from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) sea ranges.

Seconds after launch from the submarine's torpedo tube, the Tomahawk missile transitioned to cruise flight. It flew a fully guided 530-nautical mile test flight using global positioning satellite navigation to a target and recovery site on the NAVAIR land range.

Included in this test event, the mission was planned onboard the launch platform, a capability developed for the new Tactical Tomahawk Weapons System. This new capability allows the fleet to reduce the time required to plan and execute a Tomahawk mission.

Tomahawk missiles are deployed throughout the world's oceans on numerous surface ships and submarines, including AEGIS-Class Cruisers, Guided Missile Destroyers, and SEAWOLF and LOS ANGELES-Class submarines.

As in all Tomahawk flight tests, air route safety was carefully planned in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration. For safety purposes, the Tomahawk could have been guided by commands from safety chase aircraft.

The Tomahawk program is managed by the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO(W)) co-located at the NAVAIR complex in Patuxent River, Maryland. The missile is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, AZ. Tomahawk is a registered trademark of the United States Navy.