TIME.CO, Jakarta – Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara has said he wants to buy cruise missiles Tomahawk from the United States faster than initially expected. It was in response to growing security challenges in Asia. Kihara made the statement in his first face-to-face meeting with US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in Washington on Wednesday, October 4, 2023
What is a Tomahawk missile?
Tomahawk it is cruise missile unmanned aircraft made in the USA. The Tomahawk is used to attack long-range targets with a 450-kilogram warhead. Quoted from British, The Tomahawk missile is 5.6 meters long and weighs 1,500 kilograms. This missile travels at a speed of 885 kilometers per hour with a firing range of 2,400 kilometers.
Tomahawk uses the Terrain Contour Matching navigation system and the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation mapping system. This system works to match the target positioning data. The Tomahawk missile was first used in 1983. Developed by General Dynamics, then continued by Raytheon.
Currently, the Tomahawk cruise missile has several variants. For example, BGM-109A with warhead thermonuclear, UGM-109B anti-ship missile, BGM-109C conventional warhead, BGM-109D sow bomb warhead. Quoted from the RTX site, The Tomahawk missile also has a Block IV tactical Tomahawk version that can change targets during flight.
Then there is Block V with a lifespan of up to 15 years. Block V: TACTOM with navigation and communications modernization and Block Va: Block V attacks moving targets at sea. Then Block Vb: Block V with a combined multi-effect warhead that can hit a wider range of ground targets.
Tomahawk missiles began to be used during the Persian Gulf War in 1991. They were also used on December 16, 1998 in Operation Desert Fox in Iraq.
Tomahawk missiles were used in 2014. The Pentagon launched 47 Tomahawks to attack the Khorasan militia that had entered Syria. In 2016, Tomahawks were launched from the Red Sea in Yemen after the Houthis fired missiles at American ships.
In 2017, Tomahawk missiles were fired at Syria’s Sahyar airbase. The attack destroyed a Syrian warplane accused of carrying poisonous chemical gas to be dropped on Idlib.
Editors Choice: Security challenges in Asia are growing and Japan is acquiring Tomahawk missiles more quickly
Quoted From Many Source
