--- title: Syria Missile Attack: Tomahawk Weapon Explained description: More than 50 Tomahawk missiles were launched from U.S. warships Thursday, targeting a Syrian air base. Here's what to know about the weapon. canonical: https://time.com/4730285/us-syria-tomahawk-cruise-missiles/ author: Kevin Lui article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-07T06:52:32.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T08:44:44.519Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Are Tomahawk Cruise Missiles? og:description: Here's what to know about the weapon the U.S. used to strike a Syrian air base og:url: https://time.com/4730285/us-syria-tomahawk-cruise-missiles/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b17f75744228668/6988c1d38fd2ee65e43567ba/gettyimages-1869884.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: GettyImages-1869884 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Are Tomahawk Cruise Missiles? twitter:description: Here's what to know about the weapon the U.S. used to strike a Syrian air base twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1b17f75744228668/6988c1d38fd2ee65e43567ba/gettyimages-1869884.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The U.S. Struck a Syrian Air Base with Tomahawk Missiles. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f6a3a1dc-bddb-4df2-bdbf-2fbe17f0cd72&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: The "Pin Prick" Weapon Against Syria [Watch (HLS stream): The "Pin Prick" Weapon Against Syria](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/NIFsF7a8.m3u8) (2:06)  _Published 2013-09-11. If diplomacy fails, the U.S. military will likely rely on the Tomahawk cruise missile to strike targets in Syria. Are these weapons up for the task? TIME National Security Correspondent Mark Thomspon explains._ by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Apr 7, 2017 6:52 AM UTC by [Kevin Lui](https://time.com/author/kevin-lui/) ## Kevin Lui Apr 7, 2017 6:52 AM UTC The U.S. [attacked a Syrian air base](http://time.com/4730231/us-missile-airstrike-attack-syria-donald-trump-bashar-assad/) with dozens of cruise missiles Thursday, in response to a chemical weapons attack in the country’s northwestern Idlib province earlier this week that killed more than 80 people, including children. According to [the Pentagon](https://www.defense.gov/News/News-Releases/News-Release-View/Article/1144598/statement-from-pentagon-spokesman-capt-jeff-davis-on-us-strike-in-syria), a total of 59 Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles were launched from the USS Porter and USS Ross, two Navy destroyers in the east of the Mediterranean. The missiles targeted aircraft, air defense systems and other strategic equipment in the Shayrat airfield in Homs, western Syria. Aircraft believed to be involved in Tuesday’s chemical attack were traced to that air base, the Pentagon said. The Tomahawk had already been [floated as the likely weapon of choice](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/11/the-tomahawk-cruise-missile-the-u-s-weapon-of-choice-in-syria-attack/) for a potential Syria strike in 2013, when then-U.S. President Barack Obama was exploring military options for intervening in the country’s long-running civil war. Weighing 2,900 pounds (1,315 kg) and measuring at over 18 feet (5.56 m) in length, the missile is capable of carrying a 1,000-pound conventional warhead over a range between 700 and 1,350 nautical miles, [according to](http://www.navy.mil/navydata/fact%5Fdisplay.asp?cid=2200&tid=1300&ct=2) the U.S. Navy. Launched from the sea, the missile is “designed to fly at extremely low altitudes at high subsonic speeds” — up to 550 mph (880 km/h) — and has several on board navigation systems that guide the missile to its target. Flying at low altitude and high subsonic speed makes the missile “difficult for radar to detect, or for the enemy to shoot down,” [TIME reported](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/11/the-tomahawk-cruise-missile-the-u-s-weapon-of-choice-in-syria-attack/) back in 2013. Another major advantage of the Tomahawk is that it doesn’t require a pilot to be close to the target, minimizing risks to the crew. TIME has described the missile as a “[non-reusable drone](http://swampland.time.com/2013/09/11/the-tomahawk-cruise-missile-the-u-s-weapon-of-choice-in-syria-attack/).” First used in combat during the Persian Gulf War in 1991, the Tomahawk has since been a mainstay of U.S. warfare. Other notable conflicts that saw the missile in action include the 1998 bombing and 2003 [invasion](http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,439517,00.html) of Iraq, as well as the 2011 Libya [military operation](http://nation.time.com/2011/03/19/the-balloon-goes-up-in-libya-with-u-s-in-the-back-seat/) that ultimately toppled Muammar Gaddafi. The Tomahawk was also among [the catalog of arms the U.S. used](http://time.com/3422702/isil-isis-syria-obama/) to attack ISIS and the Khorasan group, an alleged al-Qaeda offshoot, in 2014\. Prior to Thursday’s Syria mission, the cruise missile saw action most recently in October, when the U.S. [fired](http://time.com/4529590/u-s-fires-missiles-at-yemen-and-the-axis-of-evil-persists/) multiple missiles at radar sites in Yemen. ## Transcript [ NOISE ] I think it's best to think of the Tomahawk cruise missile as sort of a non- reusable drone. It's the offspring of two of World War II's most feared weapons. Germany's unmanned and unguided V2 rocket that rained down on Great Britian. And Japan's kamikaze aircraft, manned by suicidal pilots which sunk 47 allied warships in the Pacific. The 20 foot long 3, 000 pound Tomahawk combines the best of both worlds. It has the accuracy of a kamikaze without putting a pilot at risk. [ SOUND ] The tomahawk's key advantage is remote control war. [ SOUND ] Its jet engine pushes it along at about 550 miles an hour. Less than the speed of sound. But it flies low. It makes it difficult for radar to detect it or for the enemy to shoot it down. It can also fly at night and in all kinds of weather before striking at least half the time, within 30 feet of it's aim point. But Tomahawks have a slew of disadvantages too. First of all, it's 1, 000 pound warhead isn't a huge punch for attatcking heavily defended targets like burried bunkers. It would take a lot of them to do much damage which leads to its second disadvantage. At about a million dollars a pop a tomahawk cruise missile costs far more than dumb iron bombs which thanks to GPS tailkits today have similar accuracy. Finally, tomahawks are pretty worthless on a fast moving battlefield. They aren't the est way to attack mobile targets, but the latest upgrades of the Tomahawk are incorporating some of this capability. But the idea of disposable drones makes shrinking sense in a world where predators And other reusable drones, are becoming more science and less fiction, everyday. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4730285/us-syria-tomahawk-cruise-missiles/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4730285/us-syria-tomahawk-cruise-missiles/"},"headline":"The U.S. Struck a Syrian Air Base with Tomahawk Missiles. 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