On Mar 29, 7:46*am, mm wrote:
On Tue, 29 Mar 2011 02:39:08 -0400, Jeff Thies
wrote:





On 3/28/2011 9:18 PM, mm wrote:
OT *What does a Tomohawk missile really cost?

They keep saying a million dollars, or a little less, but does that
include amortizing billions of dollars of development costs?

What is the marginal cost of another missile?

It's hard to believe anything costs a million dollars after there is
an assembly line of sorts.

* Much about this on the news a few days ago, although I can't find
sources at the moment. What I remember: *The '99 price of a cruise
missile is ~600K, Raytheon is now the main contractor and has made
modifications upping the cost. Some of the mods include being able to
change course of the missile in flight. Late model tomahawks are more
like 1.4 M. Prices also vary by launch platform and other variants,
something he

http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/smart/bgm-109.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomahawk_missile

Hard to say just what the cost is of the ones being expended.

* It's a lot of money compared to other smart weapons, but the
outstanding value is that they can be deployed against any target
without risking air frames and air crews. They can also be sent off in
large numbers quickly. That is why you see them used so extensively
early in air campaigns, the trend is toward using these very early on to
take down air defences and heavily defended targets.

* There probably will be very few more expended and there appears to be
a large inventory of them so there is no pressing need to replenish as
there are more in the pipeline (~200/year). There likely won't be
additional requested. Note that the US is deploying AC130 gunships and
you don't do that unless you own the airspace.

* Something here on aircraft involved:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/mobile/uk-12785746

* Considering how fast the conflict blew up in Libya it's a nice bit of
work getting all the forces and countries involved put together.
Obviously there was a lot of planning involved early on, and it appears
that they were on the move even as the politics were working their course.

* On a side note, the sudden ebb and flow of military fortunes in Libya
is nothing new. These are the same towns that flowed back and forth
between axis and allies in WWII.

I'm sure. * Tobruk is certainly famous.

Then as now, controlling the air over
land that you can't hide in, is key.

* Jeff

Thanks .



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They are doing fine destroying tanks in the open desert. However in
towns and cities it will be near impossible. The battle will be won
or lost in the cities.