iscover
The engineering changes required for an air launched subtype of the Tomahawk weapon are not significant. These include a software modification to accommodate the Harpoon-like delivery and weapon release profile, the removal of the rocket booster, the locking of the folding tail surfaces and the fitting of midbody hardpoints and an umbilical interface to allow carriage on a wing pylon. Most of this design work was done during the MRASM development programme during the mid 1980s.
Analysis – Tomahawk, Submarines and the F-111
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An Idea Which Has Surfaced in Recent Times Is That Of
Replacing the ADF’s strategic deterrent, the F-111, with BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise Missiles (TLAM-C) fired from Collins class submarines.
The first time this proposal surfaced was during the last Federal election, when the Opposition briefly floated the idea.
More recently, a noted Australian defence journal ran a short discussion piece on the subject, concluding that “…the Tomahawk is the logical successor to the F-111s…”, and suggesting that an additional two Collins class subs be built, presumably to provide enough hulls for the submarine force to absorb this role. These statements deserve some careful examination, if for no other reason than to clarify what the technical and strategic issues really are. The issues can be broken into two fundamental questions, the first question being whether there is a useful role in the ADF’s inventory for the sub-strategic conventional Tomahawk, and the second question being, if yes, what is the most appropriate delivery platform for the Tomahawk? To answer the first question we must look at what capability is offered by the cruise missile in comparison with existing capabilities, and what are its inherent limitations.
The Capabilities and Limitations of the Tomahawk
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