The Tomahawk is the workhorse of the United States’ missile arsenal. It’s been deployed in strikes in Syria and Libya and was used extensively against former dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime in Iraq, in both the 1990s and in 2003.
About 30 of the cruise missiles were used as part of the US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities in June.
While not new, the Tomahawk remains effective and relatively cheap, at $2 million per missile. Depending on the variant, it can strike targets at a range of between 1,600 and 2,500 kilometers (1,000 to 1,600 miles).
That is not much greater than some of Ukraine’s longer-range drones, but the Tomahawk would pack a far higher explosive punch. It has sophisticated guidance technologies and travels at high subsonic (about 550 mph) speeds.
It also flies low, literally hugging the contours of land, making it harder to detect and intercept.
For all these reasons, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has lobbied the Trump administration for the delivery of Tomahawks that could enable Ukraine to strike targets deep inside Russia. For now, at least, he’s not going to get them. Trump made clear last week that the US has few to spare, saying: “We need Tomahawks for the United States of America too. We have a lot of them but we need them.”
“It’s very difficult just to operate with only with Ukrainian drones. We need long-range Tomahawks,” Zelensky said in an interview with US network NBC on Sunday.
He has also said that Tomahawks would “strengthen Ukraine and force the Russians to sober up a little (and) sit down at the negotiating table.”
The Kremlin was so perturbed by the prospect of Kyiv procuring Tomahawks that it issued dire warnings about an escalation of the war, given that the missiles can carry nuclear warheads. Russia would perceive their supply to Ukraine as a “hostile move” that would threaten global security, according to the head of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin.
Russian President Vladimir Putin sought to preempt the prospect in a lengthy call with Trump on the eve of Zelensky’s visit to Washington on October 16.
The Tomahawk is certainly proven in combat. In 1991, when the US and its allies sought to expel Iraqi forces from Kuwait, 122 Tomahawks were fired at Iraqi defenses in the opening three days of Operation Desert Storm – the first time they had been used. It has also been used for precision strikes in the Balkans, Afghanistan in 1998, Yemen, Libya and Syria. The latest version of the missile was introduced in 2021, with enhanced electronics and a greater range.
Vice President JD Vance’s arrival in Israel on Tuesday comes as some Trump administration officials are concerned that the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas could fall apart, sources familiar with the matter told CNN.
Vance’s presence in the region is meant, at least in part, to ensure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains committed to the US-negotiated deal as some Trump administration officials worry he could work to thwart it.
One US official characterized it as “Bibisitting.” Another framed it as a “show of force from the highest-ranking person after the president himself” to make the administration’s view clear that the ceasefire needs to be durable enough to “outlast inevitable skirmishes.”The sources added that the general belief among US officials involved in the negotiations is that the truce is most threatened in the short term, which is why the trip needed to happen so soon after Trump’s visit just last week.
Guest, Please LoginTrump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner, the key US architects of the deal, are also in Israel this week as the administration begins to work on the longer-term goals of the president’s 20-point peace plan for the region.While there, Witkoff told Israel the country’s response to violence from Hamas needs to be proportionate to the violation, according to an Israeli source familiar with the matter. Witkoff also emphasized that the next 30 days are crucial for the deal to hold and for talks to enter the second phase, the source said.
Guest, Please LoginTrump did, however, threaten to have the group “eradicated” if ultimately necessary. The president wrote on social media Tuesday that “great allies” in and around the Middle East would “welcome the opportunity” to enter Gaza and “straighten [out] Hamas” if they continue to “act badly.”
Trump said he told these unspecified countries “not yet,” as “there is still hope that Hamas will do what is right.”
