Streamline weapons functions and integrate new, updated software able to increase cybersecurity through a simplified user interface, service officials said.
Multiple systems can now be accessed from a single workstation and other systems were condensed, freeing up space in control rooms, a Navy statement said.
In a Navy statement, Weapons Control System Co-lead Lt. Cmdr. Paul Rotsch explained that “updates to the interface were designed to streamline workflow and minimize potential for human error. The improved hardware and software, combined, increase the speed of engagement planning.”
These upgrades are part of a broader Navy effort to accelerate Tomahawk modernization with new seeker technology so as to better enable the weapon to destroy moving targets at sea, service officials said.
“The seeker suite will enable the weapon to be able to engage moving targets in a heavily defended area,” a Navy official told Scout Warrior. “The Maritime Strike Tomahawk enables the surface fleet to seek out and destroy moving enemy platforms at sea or on land beyond their ability to strike us, while retaining the capability to conduct long range strikes.”.
The Navy does appear to be moving forward with development of an active seeker for the Tomahawk, however service officials emphasize that the service has not yet formally decided what particular technology will go on the front end of the upgraded missile.
The active seeker technology is designed to complement the Tomahawk’s synthetic guidance mode, which uses a high-throughput radio signal to update the missile in flight, giving it new target information as a maritime or land target moves, Raytheon’s Tomahawk Program Manager Chris Sprinkle said in an interview with Scout Warrior last year.