The Navy formally accepted the Tomahawk Block IV cruise missile Sept. 29 from manufacturer, Raytheon Missile Systems out of Tucson, Ariz., during a fleet introduction ceremony at the Pentagon's center courtyard by signing DD250, the government's form for acceptance of contractor provided material.

"The Block IV Tomahawk provides a substantial battlefield edge to our warfighters," said Capt. Bob Novak, Tomahawk All-Up-Round program manager. "It is a great day for the Navy to formally celebrate the hard work of the Navy-Raytheon team that enabled the fleet introduction of this revolutionary weapon, whose flexible targeting and loitering capabilities build on the tremendous 32-year tradition and success of the legacy Tomahawk program."

The Tomahawk cruise missile was originally fielded as a long-range nuclear strike weapon, but as threats changed around the world so has the purpose and use of the missile.

"[The Tomahawk has grown] from its original beginnings to today's combat proven weapon of choice for critical long range precision strike missions," said Harry Schulte, Vice President of Raytheon's Strike Product Line. "What makes this missile so revolutionary are the advanced capabilities it brings to the warfighter ... which position Tomahawk to be a critical node of the network of the future integrated battle space."

Rear Adm. Brad Hicks, deputy for Surface Combat Systems and Weapons (N76F), congratulated the Navy/Raytheon Tomahawk team for providing an incredibly effective weapon to warfighters at a reasonable cost.

"The Tomahawk missile is a great success story," Hicks said. "It has consistently provided combat power where and when it was required to achieve national command authority objectives. As great as the previous Tomahawks were and are, Tactical Tomahawk provides a quantum leap in capability that will translate directly to greater success in combat when called upon. And all this at nearly half the cost of the previous missile."

The Tactical Tomahawk was born out of the Navy's need to respond to the global war on terrorism, according to John Young, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition.

"It is a war that needs to be fought tactically, with weapons that are more flexible and more responsive, and in today's fiscal environment, absolutely more affordable. Tactical Tomahawk responds to this very challenge," Young said. "I'm very excited to be a part of this. Never before has a more potent and lethal combination of capability, capacity, and affordability been delivered to the fleet."