Success of Missile Is a Hit at Point Mugu

A crew of 600 engineers, scientists and pilots at Point Mugu is taking pride in the success of the Tomahawk cruise missile in the opening days of the Persian Gulf War.

Some of those who have been involved in the project since its inception in the mid-1970s have seen the long-range missile go from near-extinction to its present status as a media star.

Other weapons systems tested and developed at Point Mugu, such as Sparrow and Sidewinder missiles, also are proving themselves in the Middle East, said Cmdr. Roger D. Hill, a weapons evaluation officer who heads the development team at the Pacific Missile Test Center.

The radar-guided Tomahawk has captured the public’s imagination, blasting Iraqi communications and aircraft installations just before U.S. warplanes swoop in to finish the job.

“We’re not exactly overjoyed, but there’s definitely a high level of satisfaction here” because of the success of Tomahawk and the other systems, Hill said.

“As those responsible for testing them, we first of all have to be objective. But once a system works out, you can’t help but have enthusiasm for it.”

Point Mugu, with its 35,000-square-mile ocean test range, is the Navy’s key center for testing and evaluating missile systems.

Hill said that some of the specialists who took part in Tomahawk’s first tests in 1976 are still working at the base.

In those days, failures and administrative problems threatened to kill the program.

“I wouldn’t say the people who have been here since the beginning have been vindicated,” Hill said. “They didn’t need to be. Basically, their role was to criticize the missile’s performance and indicate changes that needed to be made. Once the changes were made, the system worked.”

At one point in the early 1980s, the Tomahawk’s survival was threatened when the Defense Department investigated the missile’s prime contractor, the Convair division of General Dynamics, for alleged security deficiencies.

Later, the admiral who headed the entire project was replaced.

In one of several test misfirings, one of the $1-million missiles went astray and plowed into a hillside in Ojai.

Hill wasn’t involved in those snafus.

He became a Tomahawk program manager in Washington in 1988, then took his present post at Mugu six months ago.

Still, he’s quick to come to the Tomahawk’s defense.

“It’s been a controversial project,” he conceded, “but I’m sure the Tomahawk is saving American lives in the Middle East.” It’s doing that, he said, by following a guidance system that allows it to constantly recheck its location before delivering its 1,000-pound warhead on target.

The missile is said to be so accurate that it can be fired between the goal posts of a football field from a ship 500 miles away.

According to the Navy, over 90% of the more than 100 Tomahawks that have been fired from U.S. warships in Iraq have hit their targets.

“I don’t think the system ever was a failure in terms of performance,” Hill said. “It’s just that people were unsure how it would work in combat.

“People said, ‘The technology is too fancy. You’ll have to prove it can work in combat.’

“Well, this is the first time it’s ever been fired in anger. We’re going to find out some things about Tomahawk that we didn’t know.

“We’ll have to fix some things, I’m sure, but in some ways we’ll be pleasantly surprised.”

Hill noted that at least one other missile tested and developed at Mugu has achieved star status in the Persian Gulf. The Sparrow air-to-air missile “has already shot down some Iraqi aircraft,” he said.