Tomahawk Vs. Kalibr
Since the 1990s, the United States has relied on Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from their warships and submarines. The missile, with a flight capability of 550 miles per hour, has been involved in wars in the Middle East, North Africa, the former Yugoslavia, and Afghanistan.
The USS Merrill (DD-976), an American destroyer ship, launched the first cruise missile in March 1980. in June of the same year, the UGM 109, the underwater version of the Tomahawk system, ran an Armament test.
The development of the military project lasted for two more years until 1983, when the missile system passed into service. The tomahawk cruise missiles were first used in Iraq in 1991 and symbolized the American idea of non-contact warfare.
When the U.S. first tried out the tomahawk missiles during the Operation Desert Storm, the Western media strongly praised its combat results.
However, in 1992 the New York Times And The Washington Post published an official report on the U.S. Department of Defense which described the lessons learned by the U.S. military during
the Gulf War and showed the real state of events, including the true capabilities of the Tomahawk. Tomahawks can strike targets at distances over a thousand miles away, making them very popular. However, now the Tomahawk has a strong competitor from Russia, The Kalibr.
The capacity to strike distant strategic targets deep within the land is seen as a crucial and differentiated capability for naval power.
It was assumed that only the United States and the United Kingdom possessed such technology before 2015 when the Tomahawk cruise missile was developed. But now, it’s not just the U.S. and U.K. that can engage targets with cruise missiles at extreme ranges.
Russian military forces first used the Kalibr missile system in Syria. The missiles were launched from warships and submarines at stationary targets .on October 7, 2015, the Russian Gepard-class frigates Dagestan and the three small bouillon class Corvettes sailing in the Caspian Sea fired 26 missiles at 11 Isis Targets in three Syrian governance, Araka, Idlib, and Aleppo.
The target distance was over 1500 kilometers; the targets included weapon factories, command centers, ammunition warehouses, weapons storage fuel Depots, and terrorist training camps. On November 20, 2015, the Caspian Fleet warships launched another 18-Kalibr cruise missiles at seven terrorist Targets in the same region.
The Kalibr missile system has been tested in real combat conditions; it is too early to estimate the cost of one missile and one launch, but the new Russian cruise missile has shown strong potential.
Missiles are currently deployed on Russian Navy kilo class submarines and more modern types, including the Akula Lada and Yasin classes.
They are also used on frigates and corvettes, although larger ships have not yet had them installed. Destroyers can carry many more missiles than Russian frigates, such as the Gephardt class, which only has eight Kalibr missiles.
There are a dozen or more Kalibr missile versions, each with its own unique launch platform, range, Target profile, and speed, and each carrying either a 990-pound Warhead or a nuclear payload.
The 3m14t and 3m14k land attack variants lack the Terminal approach Boost to Mach 3. Inertia-guided missiles have a range of 1000–1500 kilometers and use INS GPS and digital scene matching area correlation Dsmac to compare onboard camera images with recorded ones.
The Russian Navy will upgrade three M14 Kalibr cruise missiles to the Kalibr M version, which has a maximum shooting range of around 4,500 kilometers.
Now let’s see the Tomahawk missile.
The United States Navy and Royal Navy rely heavily on the Tomahawk, a long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile. Tomahawk cruise missiles may use their inertial navigation systems to get where they need to go. GPS allows for pinpoint hits, travels at low altitudes, and can be reprogrammed mid-flight to alter its target direction.
When a cruise missile deviates from its intended course, this device compares the ground below it to the maps kept on board. Target in Flight delay, loiter option, and battle damage assessment over a two-way data link allow for the storage of up to 15 alternate pre-programmed targets prior to flight or acceptance of a new target.
Once a Tomahawk reaches its target, it can send back reconnaissance photos through Satcom to headquarters, where it will wait for further instructions.
Digital scene mapping from DSMAC allows it to wait around until the target is safe to engage. Tomahawk can be instructed to locate and track a single Target within a certain area by uploading a photo of that Target.
Block 5 upgrades to Tomahawk include:
- A redesigned Seeker can target surface targets over a thousand miles away with more penetrating force.
- Less susceptibility to jamming of its Seeker.
- Improved communication and navigation to strike the Target even if GPS is down.
The question is, which cruise missile is more powerful, Tomahawk or Kalibr?
The Kalibr Suite was made to be better than the U.S.’s many but old Tomahawk cruise missiles. Whereas the original Kalibr 3m14 and the tomahawks Block 4 of Revision were about the same in terms of performance, with a slight edge in favor of Kalibr.
Kalibr M drastically outranges its U.S. counterpart at 4500 against 1700 kilometers. The 3m14t and its relatives have a substantial advantage over the American-made Tomahawk since they may be fired from a greater variety of smaller ships.
Yet, the fact that it is being designed to be fired from stationary ground installations may lack the existing Tomahawk’s sophisticated loitering and interactive data link capabilities; however, this may make it easier and cheaper to mass produce.
In addition to Parts commonality with family variants.where Tomahawk likely outclasses Kalibr’s ECM capability. While Tomahawk’s four-block Revision included electronic countermeasures, the kalibr family is especially vulnerable when it comes to being jammed. Still, Tomahawk has strengthened its defenses with the addition of Block 5 to its modification process.
As far as network capabilities go, it outstrips even the most advanced cruise missiles in use. Given our current level of expertise, it would be futile to compare the two missiles based on their Kalibr alone. The Tomahawk has been used successfully in a battle for 30 years. Alternatively, the Kalibr didn’t appear until 2012.
Tomahawks are known for their pinpoint accuracy thanks to constant upgrades and improvements, but Russia doesn’t disclose the precision or reliability of its atomic missiles. In any case, the addition of large-Kalibr cruise missiles to the Russian Navy’s arsenal has increased its strategic potential.
