Navy Scrambles To Ramp Up Tomahawk Production After Iran War Burns Through Arsenal

The U.S. Navy is racing to ramp up production of Tomahawk cruise missiles, offensive weapons used to strike enemy targets, after the Iran war consumed an estimated third of America’s prewar stockpile.

Naval engineers at China Lake, California, are expanding warhead manufacturing capabilities to prevent production bottlenecks as the military attempts to replenish its depleted arsenal of long-range strike weapons, according to a Nov. 9 Navy report. The initiative supports a seven-year, $22.9 billion contract awarded to Raytheon in August, intended to increase annual production to more than 1,000 missiles, according to RTX.

Unlike defensive missile interceptors, Tomahawks are offensive weapons designed to destroy enemy targets rather than protect American forces from incoming attacks. Launched from warships and submarines, the long-range cruise missiles can strike heavily defended military installations deep inside hostile territory, according to the Navy.

Defensive interceptors, including Patriot missiles and the Navy’s Standard Missile-3 (SM-3), serve a fundamentally different purpose. Rather than striking enemy installations, these weapons are designed to intercept incoming threats, including ballistic missiles, before they reach their intended targets, according to the Navy.

Tomahawks give American commanders the ability to launch precision strikes against enemy infrastructure, weapons facilities and other high-value targets from hundreds of miles away. The Block Va variant also has capabilities designed to strike enemy warships, expanding the missile’s offensive applications beyond land targets, according to the Navy.

RTX did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The United States purchased an average of just 86 Tomahawks annually over the past decade, leaving manufacturers poorly positioned to rapidly replace weapons expended during the conflict, according to a Nov. 10 CSIS report.

The production shortfalls have also raised concerns about America’s ability to sustain a potential conflict with China, with analysts warning that rebuilding sufficient missile inventories could take years, according to CSIS.

Tomahawks are long-range, precision-guided cruise missiles capable of striking targets approximately 1,000 miles away, allowing American destroyers and submarines to attack enemy positions without approaching heavily defended coastlines, according to CSIS.

Meanwhile, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division at China Lake has already filled seven initial Tomahawk warheads with explosives, according to the Navy.

The warheads must pass inspections before being accepted as the facility’s first production units, potentially establishing China Lake as an additional supplier for Raytheon’s expanding manufacturing operations, according to the Navy.

The facility currently relies on a decades-old, 150-gallon mixer to prepare explosive materials. However, a new 300-gallon mixer is expected to become operational around June 2027, allowing technicians to increase production capacity, according to the Navy.

The expanded facility will also allow workers to conduct different stages of warhead manufacturing simultaneously, potentially reducing production delays. New equipment and building layouts will reduce the time needed to move explosive materials between manufacturing stages, according to the Navy.

The improvements follow extensive reconstruction efforts after earthquakes in July 2019 destroyed three explosives-processing compounds at China Lake. Construction on replacement facilities began in April 2022, according to the Navy.

Nevertheless, expanding production involves more than purchasing new equipment.

Some critical missile components and materials require up to a year to arrive, complicating efforts to accelerate production schedules. Navy officials have also spent much of the past year updating technical specifications and approving suppliers, according to the Navy.

The facility is recruiting more than a dozen additional employees, who will undergo approximately one year of training before independently handling explosives and other sensitive manufacturing processes, according to the Navy.

Raytheon remains the Tomahawk’s primary manufacturer, while General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems produces warhead casings and L3Harris fills them with explosives, according to the Navy.

China Lake will take over a portion of warhead manufacturing through a multiyear public-private partnership signed with L3Harris in September, according to the Navy.

Raytheon has already delivered three times as many Tomahawks during the first half of 2026 as it did during the same period in 2025, according to an August RTX announcement.

However, the ambitious production targets still face longstanding industrial challenges, according to the Navy.

“Weapons take too long, cost too much, and are irrelevant when they get there,” Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division Executive Director Dan Carreño said, according to the Navy.

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