Tomahawk Missile:
The United States unleashed an array of weaponry against Iranian targets recently, including Tomahawk cruise missiles, stealth fighters, and for the first time in combat, low-cost one-way attack drones modeled after Iranian designs.
- It is an American-made long-range subsonic cruise missile used for deep land attack warfare.
- It is launched from ships or submarines through a Vertical Launch System.
- The Tomahawk was first conceptualised in the early 1970s as a Cold War-era weapon.
- It can carry a 1,000-pound conventional warhead or cluster munitions.
- It is powered by a solid propellant during its launch phase. Thereafter, it is powered by a turbofan engine that does not emit much heat, which makes infrared detection difficult.
- They cruise at subsonic speeds of 880 kmph and fly as low as 30-50 metres to avoid radar detection.
- Tomahawks are guided by advanced GPS, inertial navigation, and terrain contour mapping. This makes them highly accurate-with a margin of error of just 10 meters.
- They are built to follow a non-linear path, reducing the chance of interception.
- It has a range of up to approximately 2,400 km.
