US stops Tomahawk production after Syria attack
The US Department of Defense news website has just revealed surprising information about the fate of Tomahawk cruise missiles after combat in Syria.
According to published information, the US Navy announced that it wants to stop producing the "war messenger" Tomahawk because this missile line is no longer suitable for modern warfare. "The Navy once again wants to end production of the Tomahawk missile, instead focusing on the process of upgrading the existing inventory," the US Department of Defense announced.
The source added that it was necessary to eliminate the Tomahawk missile because its combat effectiveness reduced the country's offensive capabilities: "Like any weapon, the Tomahawk will eventually have to be replaced because the enemy's technological advances are making this issue urgent. The new weapon will be more accurate, faster and not affected when operating in a highly jammed environment," the statement added.
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US warship launched Tomahawk to attack Syria. |
Not only does the US Department of Defense want to stop producing Tomahawks, it also affirms the growing demand for long-range cruise missiles and acknowledges the great success of Tomahawks in the wars they have participated in (before attacking Syria).
Although it did not reveal details about the plan to replace Tomahawk, with this statement alone, the US showed that it no longer trusts the "war messenger" after two scandalous attacks on Syria (the first in April 2017 and the second on April 14, 2018).
In the first attack in the early morning of April 7, the US Navy launched 59 Tomahawk missiles into Syria, but only 23/59 missiles flew near the target, while the rest were lost.
This information was given by the spokesman of the Russian Ministry of Defense, General Igor Konashenkov, when speaking to the international media: "Only 23/59 Tomahawk missiles hit the Shayrat airbase in western Syria, while the remaining 36 missiles are currently unknown and have gone astray," the spokesman said.
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Pieces of a Tomahawk missile shot down in Syria were displayed by the Russian Defense Ministry on April 25. |
Immediately after the Russian general's announcement, many unexploded Tomahawk warheads were found scattered around the Shayrat and Tartus bases, proving that they were not intercepted by missiles. So what is the reason why these missiles did not land as the US wanted?
Some time later, Russian military sources revealed that these missiles were intercepted by Russia using the Khibiny electronic countermeasures system equipped on fighter jets and the Krasukha-4 system deployed in the area near Tartus and Shayrat as early as October 2015 - the time when Russia had just launched a military campaign to attack terrorists in Syria.
According to information made public by Russia, the Krasukha-4 system is capable of dealing with many different types of targets such as drones, fighter jets, enemy radar stations, missiles... and even the Lakross reconnaissance satellite radar station.
Meanwhile, in the second attack on Syria on April 14, 2018, 13 US Tomahawk missiles were shot down by Syrian air defense. And the biggest risk to the US is that the Syrian government army has transferred at least one intact Tomahawk to Russia for research after this second attack.
Rianfan.ru quoted a statement from a senior Russian defense official saying that Russia's research on Tomahawk missiles is not useless as the West announced, but on the contrary, this work will bring many benefits to Russia and pose a great threat to the US.
The official asserted that the structural features of the Tomahawk missile do not interest Russian engineers, but the operating algorithms of this weapon are useful to them. Rianfan.ru quoted the official's analysis as saying: "Altimeter measurement, satellite communication channels, GPS L2 - this is the military segment of the navigation system. Moreover, the system of terrain height correlation, in general, these are very interesting features.
On the one hand, this allows comparison with our existing missiles, and on the other hand, these parameters can be applied to countermeasures against them, so that they cannot fly to the intended places."
According to some experts, the two launches into Syria completely destroyed the reputation of the Tomahawk and made the US lose confidence in the power and reliability of this missile line. And this is considered the reason why the US stopped producing the Tomahawk.