Tomahawk grows in popularity - Australia to buy 200 Block V-level missiles with a range of more than 1,800km, which can change targets in flight

The US State Department has approved the sale of Tomahawk cruise missiles to Australia. The deal will be worth almost $1 billion.

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The US Navy has no plans to buy Tomahawk missiles in fiscal year 2024, but that doesn't mean Raytheon will sit idle. Japan had previously announced plans to buy 400 cruise missiles worth $1.6bn. Now the Country Down Under is in line.

Australia will be able to buy 200 Block V level Tomahawk missiles and 20 Block IV level missiles. The deal is valued at $985bn. The contract will also include the supply of additional equipment.

Raytheon's cruise missiles will be installed on Hobart-class destroyers. The Tomahawk will allow the ships to hit targets at distances over 1800km, and a Tomahawk Block V feature is the ability to change targets during flight and strike moving objects at sea.

The Tomahawk is useful for Australia in a region where China continues to develop its missile capability. In particular, China has DF-21 and DF-26 missiles, which can hit targets at distances of 2,150 and 4,000 kilometres respectively.

Australia announced its plans to buy Tomahawk missiles back in 2021. Then Canberra also announced plans to get high-precision air-to-surface cruise missiles AGM-158 JASSM Extended Range and anti-ship AGM-158C LRASM for fighters. Both, by the way, are developed by Lockheed Martin.

In addition, let's not forget that Australia is involved in the development of the PrSM missile to replace the ATACMS. The Increment 1 version will be able to hit targets at a range of 500 km, which is 200 km more than the ATACMS. In future the range will be increased to 650 km and possibly up to 1000 km.

Source: Defence News