WASHINGTON - The U.S. Navy's FY17 budget request will include around $2 billion to procure 4,000 Tomahawk cruise missiles over the next five years, reversing a previous decision to terminate production entirely. The decision was revealed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter during a visit to Naval Air Station China Lake, California. Carter's announcement not only represents a change of course, but a significant increase in Tomahawk production over previous acquisition rates.

The service initially planned to end procurement in FY15, but Congress added funding for 96 additional missiles to keep production running. The Navy said that those additional missiles, as well as the 100 included in the FY16 request, would sustain production through FY18. The 100 Block IV missiles in the FY16 budget represented the last batch the service planned to buy. The Navy said at the time that its current inventory would be sufficient to meet requirements until the follow-on Next Generation Land Attack Weapon is fielded in the 2020s.

Raytheon officials warned that by falling below the minimum sustaining rate of 196 missiles per year, the Navy would lose the ability to surge production in the event of increased military operations. Congress, again concerned about ending production before a replacement weapon was in available, added 49 missiles to the FY16 request. The remaining 47 missiles needed to reach the minimum sustaining rate were paid for using FY15 OCO funding.

Carter also revealed that the FY17 budget will include $927 million for the Long Range Anti-Ship Missile (LRASM) over the Future Years Defense Program, as well as $418 million for AARGM-ER anti-radiation missiles over the FYDP.

Source: Forecast International - International Military Markets
Associated URL: http://www.forecastinternational.com
Author: S. McDougall, Defense Analyst