USA: Raytheon Tests New Tomahawk Block IV Cruise Missile

Raytheon Company successfully completed a passive seeker test designed for a Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile using company-funded independent research and development investment.

The captive flight test, using a modified Tomahawk Block IV missile nose cone, demonstrated that Raytheon’s advanced, next-generation; multi-function processor can enable the cruise missile to navigate to and track moving targets emitting radio frequency signals.
For the test, the nosecone of a Tomahawk Block IV missile was equipped with passive antennas integrated with Raytheon’s new modular, multi-mode processor, and fitted to a T-39 aircraft. Flying at subsonic speed and at varying altitudes, the aircraft simulated a Tomahawk flight regime. The passive seeker and multi-function processor successfully received numerous electronic signals from tactical targets in a complex, high density electromagnetic environment.

A Raytheon-funded active seeker test with the company’s new processor inside a Tomahawk nosecone is planned for early next year. That event will demonstrate the processor’s ability to broadcast active radar as well as passively receive target electromagnetic information – a critical step in enabling the missile to strike moving targets on land and at sea.