USA may provide Ukraine with older Tomahawk missiles, vulnerable to Russian air defense – media
The U.S. and Ukrainian military experts believe that the United States will most likely provide older models of long-range Tomahawk missiles, which can be intercepted by Russian air defense systems, the Axios publication said on Friday before the scheduled meeting of the presidents of Ukraine and the United States, Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump.
"It's unclear what generation of missile Ukraine would receive. Ukrainian officials believe older versions would be more vulnerable to Russian air defense systems," the article reads.
At the same time, the publication states there is still no certainty that Trump will agree to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. It is currently unclear how many missiles the United States can allocate from its reserves. The United States also has very few Typhoon systems, which are needed to launch Tomahawk missiles from land.
"The Tomahawks are subsonic cruise missiles that are typically launched from U.S. Navy ships and submarines, per the CSIS Missile Defense Project. Historically, some models could carry nuclear payloads. But Ukraine would most likely need to launch them from land. The U.S. Army introduced a land-based launcher, called Typhon, in 2023. That means Trump would not only need to provide Tomahawks, but also launchers. In both cases, some officials in the Pentagon would be very worried about depleting U.S. stocks," the publication said.
The Tomahawk missiles are about 5.55 meters long, or 6.25 meter with boosters. They weigh 1,315 kilograms and have a claimed range of 1,250-2,500 kilometers. The average cost of one missile is $1.3 million. The only manufacturer is the American company Raytheon, also known as RTX.
Since its development in the 1970s, the United States and its allies have used the Tomahawk missiles more than 2,350 times in operational conditions. During this time, they have undergone several modernizations. In particular, the Block II was used throughout the 1980s, the Block III appeared in 1993, and the Block IV was introduced in the early 2000s.
Only a few countries use the Tomahawk: in addition to the United States, these are the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia and the Netherlands. In recent years, they have been used to strike Syria, Yemen and Iran.