December 13,2008:
The U.S. Navy is refurbishing 165 older Tomahawk land attack missiles,
for continued use in ships and
submarines. These missiles are built to have a long shelf life, but once they
get older, they have to be refurbished to insure reliability. It will cost
about $206,000 for each missile (including 32 British Tomahawks). More recent
models of the Tomahawk are equipped with sensors that report the status of many
components, enabling missiles to be kept in shape with periodic maintenance and
replacement of failing components. This would not eliminate refurbishment, but
would make the process less frequent and cheaper.