Convair Gets Big Order to Replace Tomahawk Missiles Used in War
General Dynamics’ Convair Division has been awarded a contract to replace 208 of the 291 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired by the U.S. military in the Persian Gulf War. The rest of the replacement missiles will be supplied by McDonnell Douglas, a co-supplier of the missiles to the Navy.
The San Diego-based division said the supplemental order is worth $181 million and comes on top of the Pentagon’s fiscal 1991 regular order for 160 of the missiles, an allotment valued at $188 million. The 18-foot, 3,200-pound missiles are launched from submarines and surface ships.
The order will not result in additional hires at Convair, however, where 2,000 workers are now directly employed in the Tomahawk cruise missile program. The missiles in the new order will be delivered by November, 1993.
The performance of the Tomahawk cruise missiles, which cost $1.1 million each, proved one of the bright spots of the war, from the point of view of the United States and its allies. The missiles hit 30-foot square targets from launching spots hundreds of miles away, earning plaudits from Pentagon officials, including Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney.
The missile program began in 1976, but the Mideast war was the first conflict in which the weapons were deployed.
“That we got the major share of the replacement is great news in this day and age of defense spending cuts,” General Dynamics spokesman Jack Isabel said Tuesday. “Any time you can capture new business like this, it’s great for the Tomahawk team, great for the company and great for the community.”
Since 1984, General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas have shared the annual Navy allotment, which is now up to 400 missiles a year. Before the Persian Gulf War, the Navy had built up a stockpile of about 2,000 missiles.
General Dynamics and McDonnell Douglas usually alternate in getting the lion’s share of the year’s order. In fiscal 1990 for example, General Dynamics supplied 280 of the 400 missiles ordered, but General Dynamics’ share declined to 160 of 400 missiles in the 1991 allotment.
Congress has authorized a continuing order of 400 missiles a year for the Navy through 1995.
