Navy Fast-Tracks Tomahawk Warhead Production Amid Conflict — SkimNews
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- The U.S. Navy modified a 2019 SLAM-ER contract on Sept. 2 to add Tomahawk warhead casing production, explicitly citing "immediate demand for increased missile production... as a result of current international conflict"
- General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems will manufacture and deliver redacted-quantity warhead housings within nine months for U/RGM-109E TACTOM missiles, with first article inspections required no later than Q1 calendar year 2027
- The Navy has fired hundreds of Tomahawk cruise missiles at targets in Iran since the start of Operation Epic Fury, driving stockpile concerns about sustaining a wider conflict, most notably in the Indo-Pacific
- The Pentagon has signed frameworks with major defense companies — some contingent on congressional funding — to accelerate production of other key munitions including the Navy's SM-3 anti-ballistic missile and the Army's PAC-3 MSE interceptor
- The warhead casings will be installed on both newly built and recertified Block IV/V Tomahawk missiles, with folding Tomahawk production into the existing SLAM-ER contract avoiding long lead times required to award a new contract or qualify a secondary warhead source
Why it matters: General Dynamics and Raytheon gain a fast-tracked subcomponent contract as the Navy races to rebuild Tomahawk stockpiles drained by hundreds of missiles fired at Iran since Operation Epic Fury. The nine-month delivery and Q1 2027 inspection deadlines — far faster than typical defense procurement timelines — reflect stated concerns that current U.S. cruise missile output cannot sustain a wider conflict, particularly against Indo-Pacific adversaries.
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