The State - News from April 10, 1988

A Tomahawk cruise missile launched from a Navy ship off the California coast accurately hit its land targets 500 miles away near China Lake, a spokesman for the Pacific Missile Test Center said. The missile was launched from a vertical launch system on the ship and, in a fully guided land attack, hit three targets on the China Lake test range about 125 miles north of Los Angeles with unarmed multiple warheads, the spokesman said. Finally, the missile successfully dove into a fourth simulated target on the range. Officials expect the weapon system to be available to the fleet by the fall.