Cheap Tomahawk Missiles: Better Than Hypersonics To Fight Russia Or China?

[rangerrebew]

Cheap Tomahawk Missiles: Better Than Hypersonics To Fight Russia Or China?

 Yes, military experts around the world love the concept of hypersonic weapons and especially hypersonic missiles. However, are they the most effective weapon in the era of great power competition with Russia and China? Here is an idea: lots of cheap Tomahawk missiles.

The most commonly cited selling point for hypersonic missiles is that they can’t be stopped by existing air defense systems, but that argument itself comes with its own problems.


As we’ve discussed on Sandboxx News before, nations have a tendency to overestimate the efficacy of their missile defense systems in public discussion for good reason. Deterrence is a game of managing perceptions, so you’ll be hard-pressed to find a nation making statements to the global media about just how easy it already is to get missiles past their defenses.

https://www.19fortyfive.com/2022/10/cheap-tomahawk-missiles-better-than-hypersonics-to-fight-russia-or-china/

[Smokin Joe]

The idea of being able to saturate those defense systems with even slow (relatively speaking) missiles could well be a winner, provided the launch/reload capability exists.--accomplishing the mission objective at less cost.

Recall, the Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes that disabled the Bismarck were so slow the gunners on the Bismarck had trouble hitting them.

I wonder if there is (or has been developed) a stealth cruise missile on the order of the Tomahawk that would slip in and get the job done? If not, that just might be a niche whose time has come, provided the costs could be held down.

But IIRC, the tooling for the Tomahawk was scrapped during the Clinton Administration.

[GtHawk]

The idea of being able to saturate those defense systems with even slow (relatively speaking) missiles could well be a winner, provided the launch/reload capability exists.--accomplishing the mission objective at less cost.

Recall, the Fairey Swordfish torpedo planes that disabled the Bismarck were so slow the gunners on the Bismarck had trouble hitting them.

I wonder if there is (or has been developed) a stealth cruise missile on the order of the Tomahawk that would slip in and get the job done? If not, that just might be a niche whose time has come, provided the costs could be held down.

But IIRC, the tooling for the Tomahawk was scrapped during the Clinton Administration.

Just as well, the democrats would never allow them to be produced today, not with a racist name like Tomahawk!

[Smokin Joe]

Just as well, the democrats would never allow them to be produced today, not with a racist name like Tomahawk!

It appears I was wrong: https://news.usni.org/2022/05/25/raytheon-awarded-217m-tomahawk-missiles-contract-for-navy-marines-army