Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a Raytheon Technologies business, was awarded a $20 million contract for low-rate production of the Maritime Strike Tomahawk cruise missile Block Va, which includes navigation and communication upgrades in addition to an advanced multi-mode seeker for engaging moving targets at sea.

«This award is a significant and essential step toward addressing the U.S. Navy’s need to counter moving targets at sea», said Kim Ernzen, vice president of Naval Power at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. «Maritime Strike Tomahawk Block Va production ensures our Sailors have the most advanced long-range, first-strike weapons available to defeat advancing threats».

Tomahawk Block V series:

• Block V: A modernized TACTOM with upgraded navigation and communication;
• Block Va: Block V that can strike moving targets at sea;
• Block Vb: Block V, with a joint multi-effects warhead that can hit more diverse land targets.

The Tomahawk cruise missile is a precision weapon that launches from ships and submarines and can strike targets precisely from 1,000 miles/1,609 km away, even in heavily defended airspace. U.S. and allied militaries have flight-tested the GPS-enabled Tomahawk 550 times and used it in combat more than 2,300 times. Its most recent use came in 2018, when U.S. Navy warships and submarines launched 66 Tomahawk missiles at Syrian chemical weapon facilities.