Raytheon has successfully completed a captive flight test of a seeker designed for the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile.
The seeker will allow Tomahawk to employ moving targets on land and at sea.
The test has been carried out with a modified Tomahawk missile nose cone, mounted on a T-39 test aircraft, and installed with a seeker integrated with the firm’s new modular and multi-mode processor.
Over a three-week period, the aircraft piloted profiles that simulated the Tomahawk flight regime to move targets on land and in the maritime environment.
Raytheon Air Warfare Systems vice-president Mike Jarrett said: "Tomahawk is evolving to meet the US Navy’s need to add offensive punch and expand the overall power of the fleet worldwide.
"The seeker test has successfully demonstrated the superior capability and maturity of our seeker technology against a variety of targets that resemble today’s threats."
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By GlobalDataIn June 2014, Raytheon Missile Systems successfully demonstrated capabilities of seeker components in a similar captive flight test, while in December, captive flight test of the seeker showed technology readiness level six of the seeker components required to meet the moving land and maritime strike requirements.
Tomahawk Block IV missile is a surface and submarine-launched, precision strike and stand-off weapon, with a range of about 1,000 statute miles.
The missile, which is designed for long-range precision strike missions against high-value and heavily defended targets, is integrated on all major US surface combatants, as well as the US and the UK sub-surface platforms.
Image: Raytheon has completed active seeker test for Tomahawk cruise missile. Photo: courtesy of Raytheon Company.