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USS Salt Lake City Launches Tomahawk
Washington December 4, 2003 - A U.S. Navy Tomahawk cruise missile was launched this week from USS Salt Lake City (SSN-716), a submerged Los Angles-Class submarine underway in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southern Calif. The missile flew a land attack mission, launching from the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) sea ranges.
Seconds after launch from the submarine’s torpedo tube, the Tomahawk missile transitioned to cruise flight. It flew a fully guided 475-mile test flight using global positioning satellite navigation and digital scene matching area correlation to a target and recovery site on the NAVAIR land range. The missile’s parachute recovery system was activated as planned. The missile was safely recovered and will be refurbished for future use.
Tomahawk missiles are deployed throughout the world’s oceans on numerous surface ships and submarines, including Aegis-Class Cruisers, Guided Missile Destroyers, and Seawolf and Los Angeles-Class submarines.
As in all Tomahawk flight tests, air route safety was carefully planned in coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration. For safety purposes, the Tomahawk could have been guided by commands from safety chase aircraft.
The Tomahawk program is managed by the Program Executive Office, Strike Weapons and Unmanned Aviation (PEO (W)) co-located at the NAVAIR complex in Patuxent River, Maryland. The missile is manufactured by Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson AZ. Tomahawk is a registered trademark of the United States Navy.
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