Long range, short supply

The war in Iraq has taken its toll on the United States8217; stockpile of Tomahawks, depleting supplies of the Navy8217;s favourite long-r...

The war in Iraq has taken its toll on the United States8217; stockpile of Tomahawks, depleting supplies of the Navy8217;s favourite long-range cruise missile at a time when production lines are shut down and new missiles won8217;t be ready for a year or more.

Pentagon planners say they have more than enough Tomahawks to finish the war, and a massive naval resupply operation in the Persian Gulf region is keeping the Navy stocked with Tomahawks and other armaments. But the frequency of Tomahawk strikes in Iraq has slowed, partly because of dwindling supplies, Pentagon officials say. And some analysts say the punishing assault on Iraq has left the US supply of Tomahawks spread precariously thin throughout the rest of the world 8212; with no quick means of replenishment.

8216;8216;This is a major misstep in terms of Pentagon planning,8217;8217; said Loren B. Thompson, a defence analyst for the Lexington Institute, a northern Virginia think-tank. 8216;8216;The whole value of the surface fleet depends on its ability to use Tomahawk missiles to attack inland targets. They didn8217;t buy enough of them.8217;8217;

The Tomahawk has emerged as one of the Pentagon8217;s most favoured air strike weapons. It can deliver a 1,000-pound bomb as far as 1,000 miles away, with a high degree of accuracy and without putting a pilot and air crew at risk. Most of the United States8217; recent conflicts have begun with a Tomahawk strike. The nation fired more than 300 during the Persian Gulf War of 1991, and launched hundreds more in the subsequent decade against targets in Iraq, Bosnia and Kosovo. No previous strike compares, however, to the assault unleashed over the last two weeks.

Through Thursday, more than 725 Tomahawk missiles had been fired into Iraq during the latest war, according to General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. On one night 8212; the 8216;8216;shock and awe8217;8217; air attack on March 21 8212; the Navy launched 320 Tomahawks from 30 different ships and submarines. The Navy only brought about 1,000 Tomahawk missiles to the region in preparation for the war, roughly half the nation8217;s entire stock worldwide.

Still, Pentagon officials say the supply is adequate.

More missiles have been moved into the area, and the Tomahawk8217;s long-distance strike role has become less important as the Army and Marine Corps advance toward Baghdad with tanks and artillery, the officials say. 8216;8216;You can8217;t do the math and subtract 700-some from 1,000 to see how many Tomahawks we have left, because we have been resupplying,8217;8217; said Rear Admiral Stephen R. Pietropaoli, the Navy8217;s chief spokesman. 8216;8216;Our inventory is fine.8217;8217; Tomahawk missiles still play a daily role in the war, mostly striking targets inside Baghdad where Iraqi fighters maintain some surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft artillery that threaten allied planes and helicopters, Pietropaoli said. While Pentagon officials appreciate the Tomahawk missile8217;s long-range capabilities, the weapon has a distinct weakness: its 1 million price tag. Military commanders in the First Gulf War said they were discouraged from firing Tomahawks because they were so expensive.

American and British forces, both Navy and Air Fore, have dropped more than 12,000 precision-guided bombs since the war began, according to the Pentagon. Unlike the military8217;s supply of JDAMs, the Tomahawk stockpile is not being replenished.

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The Pentagon stopped buying Tomahawks in the late 1990s, choosing instead to invest in upgraded cruise missiles that can 8216;8216;loiter8217;8217; over an area and search for targets. Those missiles aren8217;t expected to be ready for battle until the middle of 2004 at the earliest. Wondered Thompson: 8220;If we get into another war, who knows what we8217;ll do?8217;8217; LAT-WP