The US State Department has approved the possible sale of up to 175 Tomahawk land attack cruise missiles to the Netherlands.
The estimated $2.19-billion sale includes 163 Tomahawk Block Vs, 12 Block IVs, 10 Tactical Tomahawk weapons control systems, and related equipment and support services.
“The proposed sale will improve the Netherland’s capability to meet current and future threats by utilizing long-range, conventional surface-to-surface missiles with significant standoff range that can neutralize growing threats,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency wrote.
RTX Corporation is the sale’s principal contractor and there are known offset requirements.
Greater Range
The Tomahawk Land Attack Missile (TLAM) is deployed from surface warships and submarines for long-range land attack warfare.
The Block IV (TLAM-E) was first inducted into service by the US Navy in 2004.
It features a 1,000-pound (453-kilogram) unitary warhead and has a range of 900 nautical miles(1,667 kilometers/1,038 miles).
The missile can be reprogrammed mid-air via two-way satellite communications.
It can be directed to strike at any of 15 pre-programmed targets or redirected to Global Positioning System target coordinates.
The missile can hover over a target and provide battle-damage assessment though an on-board camera.