Raytheon [RTN], which is proposing to add a new seeker to the Tomahawk cruise missile so the U.S. Navy weapon can hit moving targets on land and at sea, has delayed a key flight test of the seeker by several months.
Raytheon, which originally planned to fly the multi-mode seeker on the nose of a T-39 aircraft in late July, has moved the event to early September “due to test aircraft scheduling and parts availability,” company spokeswoman Ashley Mehl told Defense Daily May 4. The demonstration flight, in which the T-39 will simulate a Tomahawk, is slated to occur in southern California off the coast of San Diego and near the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division in China Lake.
Raytheon, which is funding the seeker development effort in hopes of fueling Navy interest, has said that if the test is successful, the new seeker could be delivered as early as 2019 as part of Tomahawk’s recertification and modernization program.
The long-range, combat-seasoned missile was designed to destroy high-value and heavily defended targets, such as air defenses and command-and-control centers. It can also hit fleeting targets, or those that are stationary for short periods of time, but it is not currently configured to strike moving targets.