DATE: Wednesday, September 3, 1997          TAG: 9709030454

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY DALE EISMAN, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   62 lines

TACTICAL TOMAHAWKS COULD GIVE NAVY MORE BANG FOR ITS BUCKS NOT ONLY WOULD THE MISSILES HAVE ADDED CAPABILITIES, BUT THEY WOULD COST LESS.

The Navy announced plans Tuesday to buy a new generation of Tomahawk cruise missiles that could be retargeted in mid-flight and ordered to linger over and spy on target areas for several hours before striking, all at less than half of the $1.4 million cost of currently planned models.

Along with a 1,000-pound warhead, each of the new missiles would carry a tiny television camera, able to transmit live battlefield pictures to ships, ground forces and the Pentagon.

The changes, which will require congressional approval, will produce ``a better missile at a lower price,'' said Capt. Dennis Army, a senior officer in the Tomahawk program. Senior U.S. commanders around the world have been pressing for such improvements, he said.

Army and Capt. Gary Johnson, who briefed reporters on the program, said that one of the new Tomahawks, launched from a ship or submarine, could be used to search for an enemy's mobile offensive or anti-aircraft missile launchers.

The officers said the jet-powered missile would have enough fuel to criss-cross the target area for several hours, transmitting pictures that commanders could use to select its final striking point as well as targets for other Tomahawks, Navy and Air Force bombers and artillery on the ground.

The reduced price also might allow the missiles to be launched in pairs, with one to go directly to the target and the second to linger overhead, photographing the damage. If the initial hit did not destroy the target, the second missile could be ordered to do the job; if one hit was sufficient, the second missile could be dispatched elsewhere.

The Tomahawk, launched from submarines, cruisers and destroyers, emerged during the Persian Gulf War as the Navy's premier deep strike weapon. Hundreds of the quiet, low-flying missiles were sent into Iraq during the war with devastating effects.

Current Tomahawks rely on digital maps, programmed into their computers before launching, to guide them to their targets. Navy planners say that targeting is almost unfailingly accurate, but because it is time-consuming and must be done before launch, the Tomahawk is of limited value against mobile targets.

Army and Johnson said the new ``tactical Tomahawk'' would give up some of that accuracy, using the satellite-based Global Positioning System to guide it to its target. But the GPS guidance has sufficient precision to bring the missile close enough to most targets to destroy them, a Navy official said.

And for targets that require extreme precision, the Navy could continue to use to use the digital maps and pre-programmed guidance systems of the current generation of Tomahawks, the official added.

The tactical Tomahawks also would not be able to carry nuclear warheads. Army and Johnson said elimination of the missile's nuclear capability is a key factor in the ability of Hughes Aircraft, the Tomahawk's builder, to produce the new missiles for less than $575,000 each.

There have been three generations of Tomahawks to date, each more sophisticated than its predecessor; Army and Johnson said the Navy wants to scrap a fourth-generation missile now planned for deployment beginning in 2000 in favor of the tactical Tomahawk, which would begin moving into the fleet in 2002.

The Navy also wants Congress to agree to divert $23.1 million that was to be spent on purchasing Tomahawks in 1998 to finance research and development of the new generation missile.

Send Suggestions or Comments to webmaster@scholar.lib.vt.edu