The US Navy is building a second production source for Tomahawk cruise missile warheads at its China Lake weapons facility in California, supporting Raytheon's expanding Tomahawk output. The Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD) recently completed seven first-article Tomahawk warheads for inspection, the first units a new producer builds before its output can be accepted. Once those units pass, they will become China Lake's first production warheads.
The seven warheads were filled using an existing 150-gallon mixer that the China Lake team has run for decades. On November 9, the Navy marked the installation of a new 300-gallon mixer, built by B&P Littleford, in the rebuilt Motor Assembly Compound. The mixer is expected to be online around June 2027, allowing the energetics team to reach full production rate and have warheads ready before Raytheon needs them. The team's energetics staff mix explosives and rocket propellants, and the new equipment is designed to handle the specialized materials used in military energetics manufacturing.S1S2
The expansion follows an August award of a seven-year contract worth about $22.9 billion to Raytheon, an RTX company, to accelerate Tomahawk production. The agreement covers more than 7,000 new-build, recertified and modernized missiles, with annual production targeted to exceed 1,000 rounds. Raytheon is the prime contractor, General Dynamics Ordnance and Tactical Systems makes the warhead cases, and L3Harris currently performs explosive loading. Under a public-private partnership with L3Harris signed in September, China Lake is to take on part of that loading work. Navy officials say Tomahawk allows ships and submarines to fire from safe waters outside an adversary's range, and that an adequate stockpile is critical to national defense.S1S2
Preparing the second source has involved more than equipment. The Navy spent much of the past year updating the warhead specification and its approved supplier list, and every future producer, Navy or industry, must build to that specification. Key parts and materials can take up to a year to arrive, so NAWCWD bought long-lead materials ahead of the multiyear contract. The work was carried out alongside existing duties with little added staff, but more than a dozen new hires are joining the team. They will train for about a year under experienced technicians on safety, quality and procedures before working independently.S1S2
Officials say the main challenges lie in buying materials, hiring people and getting timely answers from a system built for fixed multiyear schedules, which must now move faster on a shorter clock. The Navy has not disclosed the facility's eventual annual warhead output.S1S2
