Two pigeons had the scare of their lives as the shipping container they were pleasantly perched upon was suddenly hit by the next generation Block IV Tactical Tomahawk, otherwise known as the TacTom. The missile did not destroy shipping container housed atop a moving ship, instead passing right through it, and therefor the birds survived. The firing of the TacTom was part of a test near San Nicolas Island off the coast of California.
The test was intended to see how well the TacTom could track a moving target at sea. The test appears to have been successful.
If the TacTom realises its potential it may vastly extend the Navy's ship to ship capabilities, at least until an even better weapons system is available.
"If the Navy can perfect the methodology, it would give the service an almost 1,000 nautical mile extension–the range of the TLAM—of its lethal anti-surface radius for its newer guided missile destroyers, which are not fitted with the service’s aging RGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile," USNI News' Sam LaGrone said in a piece on the missile. "The Tomahawk Block IV – unlike earlier versions of the missile – has the ability to adjust its flight path based on new information given to the missile allowing it to hit moving targets."
"The Block IV could be a quick fix to the Navy’s ASM gap before new capabilities like the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LARSM) come online."
Foxtrot Alpha's Tyler Rogoway shared the assessment that the TacTom could be a good short or midterm solution to increase the Navy's fighting ability.
"For the second and much larger increment of the Navy's Offensive Anti-Surface Warfare (OASuW) contest, which will give the service large stocks of new anti-ship missiles to replace the geriatric Harpoon, a revitalized Tomahawk may be attractive as the Navy has relied and invested into the system for so many decades," Rogoway said of the missile. "Additionally, it could allow ships to carry missiles that are both capable of land and surface attacks, which would provide more flexible inhabitants for the Navy's limited vertical launch cell real estate."
"Still, Raytheon, the maker of the Tomahawk, would have to prove that an updated forty year old design can survive even against threats posted by near-peer state competitors."
Whether or not the Navy adopts the TacTom is unclear but one thing is clear: those are some very lucky pigeons.