U.S. Navy Awards First Ever Multi-Service Contract for Tomahawk Missiles

The U.S. Navy awarded a $217.1 million contract May 24 to Raytheon Missile Systems to deliver 154 Tomahawk missiles to the Navy, Marine Corps, and Army by 2025.

The Full Rate Production (FRP) contract, Lot 18, marks the first multi-service procurement for Tomahawk, which further expands integration into new firing platforms for the Marine Corps and Army, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) said in a release.

The Tomahawk program office used Economy Act 31 USC 1535 and 1536 which allows one agency to obtain goods with another agency under certain circumstances. Congress passed this act in 1932 to obtain economies of scale and eliminate overlapping activities of the federal government, according to DoD financial management regulations.

"The Marine Corps is developing and fielding a ground based Tomahawk launcher. This contract includes procurement of missiles to support stand up of the new Marine Corps units," the military confirmed. It however did not give out any further details about the launcher.

PMA-280 worked closely with the Army’s Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO) to execute the contract in an effort to deliver the missiles on an accelerated schedule. The Army is leveraging PMA-280’s ongoing modernization efforts, investment strategies, and joint test events for its Mid-Range Capability program, a system that is on track to be delivered to its first Army unit in FY23.

FRP Lot 18 will be in the Block V configuration which features a NAV/COMMS upgrade that maintains the capability for in-flight updates and improved navigation. Future Block V capabilities will include the Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) variant and the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System (JMEWS).

Tactical Tomahawk (TACTOM) is the nation’s premier, all-weather, long-range, deep-strike offensive weapon against fixed and mobile targets, launched from surface, subsurface and ground platforms.

The Army plans to use the Tomahawk alongside a ground-based SM-6 and field them by late 2023.

Last year, the U.S. Army released a graphic showing the various components it expects to be part of its first operational "Mid-Range Capability" battery, which will be able to employ ground-launched SM-6 and Tomahawk missiles. Most notably, it shows the unit will have four trailer-mounted, multipurpose launchers that are similar, if not identical, to one the Pentagon used to conduct a test of a land-based Tomahawk around three years ago, The Drive reported.

A derivative of that same launcher, which is based on the U.S. Navy's Mk 41 Vertical Launch System design, was tested on an unmanned surface vessel in 2021.