Raytheon Co.’s Tomahawk
cruise missiles failed to reach Iraqi targets in fewer than 2
percent of almost 800 missions during three weeks of the war, the
U.S. Navy commander in the Persian Gulf said.
Fewer than 10 of the satellite-guided missiles “didn’t get
to their targets,” Vice Admiral Timothy Keating, commander of the
U.S. 5th Fleet, told reporters today. Seven missiles strayed into
Saudi Arabia and Turkey and landed without exploding, forcing the
U.S. to rearrange flight patterns, officials said.
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The U.S. through yesterday dropped or fired almost 17,450
precision-guided weapons, including Tomahawks, at Iraqi targets,
representing 67 percent of total bombs, defense officials said.
The Navy fired 288 Tomahawks in the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
“The dramatic success we’ve enjoyed is likely due to our
ability to prosecute specific targets throughout Iraq and yet
prosecute with very pinpoint precision so we could go around areas
where we didn’t want to fire or didn’t need to fire and get to the
heart of the Iraqi regime leadership,” Keating said.
Tomahawk missions are coordinated by the U.S. Air Force’s
Combined Air Operations Center at Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi
Arabia, to improve effectiveness, Keating said. In 1991, targeting
took several days from planning in Virginia to sending data and
loading coordinates into a missile’s guidance system.
The Tomahawk’s expanded use also reflects upgrades of
computers in the past decade to let commanders on ships plan
missions within hours of receiving target coordinates, he said.
The “dramatic reduction” in planning and executing is
enhanced “by the fusion of intelligence and operations and our
ability to communicate over secure lines worldwide,” Keating
said.
Bloomberg News
