Navy asks for $3B of Tomahawks
The U.S. Navy is requesting roughly $3 billion to replenish Tomahawk cruise missiles used in recent operations, a move that aims to restore stocks quickly after higher-than-normal usage. That replenishment request feeds demand for propulsion, warhead production and supply‑chain capacity across missile suppliers. (foxnews.com)
The Navy is asking Congress for 785 Tomahawk cruise missiles in fiscal year 2027, up from 58 funded in fiscal year 2026, and the price tag is a little over $3 billion. The jump is tied to heavy missile use in the Middle East, where Navy destroyers have been carrying much of the strike load. (usni.org) A Tomahawk is the Navy’s long-range missile for hitting targets from ships and submarines, and Raytheon says it can strike from about 1,000 miles away. The current Block V version also includes upgrades that let commanders retarget it in flight and add anti-ship and new warhead options. (rtx.com) (navair.navy.mil) The budget request is split in two pieces: 58 missiles in the regular fiscal year 2027 request and 727 more in reconciliation funding. That structure lets the Pentagon propose a surge buy without trying to fit the whole bill into the normal annual procurement bucket. (usni.org) The reason the number looks so extreme is that the Navy had been buying Tomahawks at a peacetime pace. Navy Times reports Congress funded 58 missiles for about $257 million in fiscal year 2026, so 785 missiles is roughly a 1,200 percent increase in one year. (navytimes.com) This comes after more than a year of unusually intense naval combat in and around the Red Sea. In January 2025, Vice Admiral Brendan McLane said the surface fleet had already fired nearly 400 munitions in that fight, including 80 Standard Missile 6 interceptors and 120 Standard Missile 2 interceptors, which shows how fast ship magazines can empty in a sustained campaign. (twz.com) Tomahawks were part of that tempo too. Stars and Stripes reported in January 2025 that Navy forces had fired more than 200 missiles while defending shipping from Houthi attacks, including Tomahawks launched from the destroyer USS Gravely during strikes on January 12, 2024. (stripes.com) Buying 785 missiles does not mean 785 missiles appear overnight. In February 2026, Raytheon said it had signed framework agreements with the Pentagon to expand Tomahawk production capacity and speed deliveries, which is a sign that the government expects demand to stay high for years, not months. (rtx.com) The bottleneck is not just the final assembly line in Arizona. The Defense Department awarded Williams International $253.7 million in December 2024 to expand gas turbine engine production for Tomahawk and other strike weapons, because one missing engine can stall an entire missile even if the rest of the parts are ready. (war.gov) So this request is really two stories in one budget line. It is a refill order for missiles already burned through in combat, and it is a stress test for whether the United States defense industry can move from peacetime trickle buys to wartime volume without taking years to catch up. (usni.org) (rtx.com)
