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The primary missile within the U.S. arsenal used in opposition to Iranian targets in Saturday’s pre-dawn strike was the Tomahawk, a long-range cruise missile launched from Navy ships and submarines.
About half the size of an ordinary phone pole, the Tomahawk flies on the velocity of a industrial airliner and might carry a 1,000-pound warhead concerning the distance from Washington, D.C., to Miami.
Fired from destroyers or submarines positioned tons of of miles away, the missiles permit a president to reply quickly to a disaster with out sending pilots into contested airspace or deploying floor forces.
The Tomahawk has change into a go-to choice for restricted army motion as a result of it affords precision and suppleness whereas conserving the U.S. footprint small. The missiles can hit fastened targets with excessive accuracy, lowering the danger of broader escalation.
Presidents of each events have used Tomahawks within the opening hours of army operations, from strikes in Iraq within the Nineteen Nineties to more moderen operations in Syria and elsewhere.
Protection officers and army analysts say the weapon’s lengthy vary, reliability and comparatively low danger to American personnel make it a sexy first strike choice when the White Home needs to ship a message rapidly however cease wanting a wider battle.
That mixture of velocity, distance and precision has stored the Tomahawk on the middle of U.S. army planning for many years.
The Tomahawk missile is manufactured by U.S. protection contractor Raytheon, also referred to as RTX. (U.S. Navy by way of Getty Pictures)
Manufactured by protection titan Raytheon — now RTX — the Tomahawk has been a mainstay of the Navy’s arsenal because the Eighties. It was first utilized in fight throughout the 1991 Gulf Battle and has since change into a go-to choice for presidents in search of to strike from lengthy vary with out placing U.S. service members in hurt’s means.
“Yr in and 12 months out, administration in and administration out, it’s the long-range land assault cruise missile that presidents attain for first in a disaster,” Thomas Karako, director of the Missile Protection Mission on the Middle for Strategic and Worldwide Research, informed Fox Information Digital.
However heavy use has taken a toll. “We’ve been utilizing them much more regularly than we’ve been producing them,” Karako mentioned.
Previous to Saturday’s operation, the missile was utilized in June 2025 throughout a U.S. strike on Iranian nuclear services.
Smoke rises after reported Iranian missile assaults, following strikes by the US and Israel in opposition to Iran, in Manama, Bahrain, Feb. 28, 2026. (Reuters)
General, the Tomahawk has been deployed greater than 2,350 occasions.
At roughly $1.4 million apiece, the Tomahawk missile has an intermediate vary of 800 to 1,553 miles and will be launched from greater than 140 U.S. Navy ships and submarines.
The Tomahawk strike was only one piece of a broader U.S. army posture within the area.
Forward of the strikes, the U.S. army amassed what Trump beforehand known as an “armada” in Iran’s yard. Mapped out throughout the Persian Gulf and past, the deployment tells its personal story, one among calculated strain backed by credible functionality.
THE ONLY MAP YOU NEED TO SEE TO UNDERSTAND HOW SERIOUS TRUMP IS ABOUT IRAN
The deployment coincided with oblique negotiations between Washington and Tehran over Iran’s disputed nuclear program. Trump has warned that the regime should totally dismantle its nuclear infrastructure or face penalties.
An F-35B takes off from the united statesAmerica flight deck. (Cpl. Isaac Cantrell/U.S. Marine Corps)
On the middle of the U.S. presence are two plane provider strike teams — the united statesAbraham Lincoln and USS Gerald R. Ford — every supported by guided-missile destroyers and cruisers and able to sustained air and missile operations.
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Greater than a dozen extra U.S. warships are additionally working within the area in help roles, based on protection officers.
It was not instantly clear how or when Tehran may reply, although Iranian leaders have beforehand warned of retaliation within the occasion of direct U.S. army involvement.
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