Optimizing Tomahawk Strikes

Abstract

The Tomahawk land attack missile (TLAM) is the Navy's weapon of choice for striking shore targets from the sea. A TLAM launched from a surface combatant or a submarine is a reliable, unmanned, long-range, accurate weapon with sufficient payload to threaten almost any shore target. The Operations Research Department at the Naval Postgraduate School has developed optimization-based decision support tools to optimize TLAM strikes from single firing units or entire battle groups. The idea is to execute each strike efficiently while retaining residual firepower, and while considering a number of other essential details. By applying mathematical modeling, the result is the ability to plan fleet and theater-wide strikes in seconds.