Here is all you want to know about Tomahawk missile that US used to strike Syria

NEW DELHI: US president Donald Trump ordered missile strike against Syria on Thursday following the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian government, in which over 80 people including children were killed. Pentagon today confirmed in a statement that US used 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles to attack Syrian air base.

Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles are precision-guided missiles that can be fired from a ship or submarine and can fly into heavily-defended airspace. It has a range of about 1,250 km to 2,500 km. Its weight varies from model to model and ranges between 1300 kg and 1600 kg.

Also read: Donald Trump’s Syrian strike may snowball into a global conflict. Here’s why


Manufactured by Raytheon, Tomahawks are intermediate-range cruise missiles capable of carrying 1,000-pound conventional warheads at a top speed of 880 km per hour. The 5.56-meter long (without booster) missiles are GPS-enabled and have been used over 2,000 times in wars.

U.S. Department of Defense releases video of Tomahawk cruise missiles being launched from a Navy destroyer aimed at a Syrian airfield. pic.twitter.com/oeaRBvMl7P

— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) April 7, 2017

According to the US Navy data, the price of one unit of Tomahawk missile was $569,000 in 1999.

"During the NATO-led effort against the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, Tomahawk played an instrumental role in the operation. One submarine fired more than 90 missiles at a variety of targets, and the USS Barry fired the 2,000th Tomahawk in combat," reads a description on the Raytheon's website.




" Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile can circle for hours, shift course instantly on command and beam a picture of its target to controllers halfway around the world before striking with pinpoint accuracy," the description added.