Page 238 - NAVAL SCIENCE 3 TEXTBOOK

244 NAVAL SKILLS

Two 500-pound laser-gu ided "smart bombs" and a Sidewinder missile on the wing of a F/A-18 Hornet.

ballistic missiles. The submarines are based at King's 13ay. Georgia, guidance, counter-countermeasures, and a large payload. It is
and Bangor, \Vashington. powered by a turbojet engine. After launch. it descends to 100 fcct
Ballistic missiles have a two-stage flight path. During the first abo\'e the water. This sea-skimming flight profile, along with active
stage, the guidance system makes corrections to the flight path of terminal guidance radar, ensures a high probability of penetrating
the missile to give it the proper trajectory to hit the target. The sec- enemy defenses and hitting the target. The sea-launched missile is
ond stage of the flight , the larger part, has a ballistic free-fall tra- IS feet long and weighs 1,400 pounds; the nir-Iaunched version is
jectory, although some missiles like the Trident ha\'e warheads 12 feet long. It has a maximum range of over 60 nautical miles,
contnining multiple cone-shaped reentry vehicles, eilch of which with a SOD-pound conventional warhend.
can be progrnlllllled to hit different targets. The Tomahawk is ,111 all-weather. long-range, subsonic cruise
missile. It can be launched from submarines, ships, land, and air-
craft. The Tomahawk is capable of delivering either a conventional
Navy Cruise Missiles or nuclear warhead to ranges in excess of 700--1 ,350 nautical miles,
The Hnrpoon, the Navy's antiship cruise missile, is designed to be depending on the model. The land-attack 'Iomahawk flies at very
launched from ships, submarines, and aircraft. It is the prilllnry low altitudes and has terrain masking and infrared guidance fea-
antiship wcapon system for U.S. naval forces and is carried by cruis- tures, making defense against it extremely difficult. The latest wr-
ers, destroyers, frigates, nuclear attack submarines, carrier-based sioll has CPS guidance. and can be reprogrammed in flight to
attack aircraft, and shore-based P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft. an alternate target if deemed necessary. The Tomahawk has been
The missile fentlll'cs over-the-horizon (OTH) range, a low- lIsed to great effect over the past twenty years in actions sllch as
level subsonic cruising trajectory (thus the name cruise), active Operations Desert Storm and Iraqi Freedom in the Persian Gulf