Munitions

Cruise missile

Also known as
  • cruise missiles

Cruise missiles are air-breathing guided munitions that fly low, route around defenses, and can be launched from ships, submarines, aircraft, or ground launchers. Their lineage runs from the V-1 flying bomb to modern deep-strike weapons, including U.S. Tomahawk use against Iran during Operation Midnight Hammer in the 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict.

Cruise missile, Cruise missile, Munitions
Image source: Commons Tomahawk Block IV Cruise Missile

Role in Conflicts

2025 Israel-Iran Conflict
Long-Range Strike
Side
United States

In Operation Midnight Hammer during the 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict, U.S. forces used Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles from a guided-missile submarine against Iranian nuclear-infrastructure targets at Isfahan.

Role details
Core Traits

Cruise missiles are best understood by how they fly and how they are launched. The family is broad, but the same core features show up again and again.

TraitWhat it meansSource basis
Air-breathing propulsionThe missile cruises under its own powered flight rather than coasting on a ballistic arc.Britannica Cruise Missile Overview; Tomahawk | NAVAIR - Navy
Low-altitude flightLow, level, or terrain-following routing helps reduce detection and complicate interception.Britannica Cruise Missile Overview
Flexible launch modesSurface ships, submarines, aircraft, and some ground launchers can all carry cruise missiles.Tomahawk | NAVAIR - Navy
Early lineageThe V-1 was the first operational cruise missile, and the American Loon carried the concept into U.S. submarine testing.Sequencer, V-1 Cruise Missile; "Buzz Bomb": 70th Anniversary of the V-1 Campaign; February 12 - Naval History and Heritage Command
Profile / Specs

Profile

Origin
Multiple countries
Type
Cruise missile
Service note
World War II precursor to present-day precision strike
Designer
Multiple national design programs
Designed
1944 origins; modern variants from the 1950s and 1960s
Unit cost
Varies widely by variant; NAVAIR cites Block V Tomahawk at approximately $3.64M (FY26).
Produced
1944 to present
Number built
Thousands across many variants

Specifications

Propulsion
Air-breathing jet propulsion, with turbojet or turbofan variants depending on the design
Guidance
Inertial, satellite, terrain-matching, or terminal seekers depending on the variant
Launch platforms
Ships, submarines, aircraft, and some ground launchers
Flight profile
Low-altitude, level, or terrain-following flight designed to reduce detection
Variants
  • Land-attack cruise missile
  • Anti-ship cruise missile
  • Air-launched cruise missile
  • Ground-launched cruise missile
Launch Platforms

The catalog's ship and submarine launch-platform records map cleanly to cruise-missile employment, with Tomahawk serving as the best-documented modern example.

LauncherLauncher typeLaunch evidence
Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, Guided-missile destroyer, Naval SystemsArleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyerSurface launch platform

The DDG 51 fact file lists Mk 41 vertical launch cells, and the Tomahawk fact sheet identifies surface ships as cruise-missile launch platforms.

Sources: Destroyers (DDG 51), Tomahawk | NAVAIR - Navy

Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, Guided-missile submarine, Naval SystemsOhio-class guided-missile submarineSubmarine launch platform

The SSGN fact file lists up to 154 Tomahawk missiles in the Ohio-class armament, and the Tomahawk fact sheet identifies submarines as launch platforms.

Sources: Guided Missile Submarines - SSGN, Tomahawk | NAVAIR - Navy

Launch Platforms
LauncherLauncher typeLaunch evidence
Choe Hyon destroyer, Guided-missile destroyer, Naval SystemsChoe Hyon destroyerGuided-missile destroyer

AP and Al Jazeera described the Choe Hyon as a ship that launched cruise missiles during commissioning coverage.

Sources: AP News: North Korea's Kim claims progress on nuclear-armed navy as new warship is placed into service, Al Jazeera gallery: North Korea commissions warship as Kim eyes nuclear navy

Timeline

Cruise missile Key Events

  1. V-1 enters combat

    Smithsonian sources describe the German V-1 as the world's first operational cruise missile and place its campaign in June 1944.

    Sources: Sequencer, V-1 Cruise Missile

  2. Cusk launches Loon

    NHHC records USS Cusk launching a Loon missile, the American V-1 copy, as the first U.S. submarine-launched guided-missile event.

    Sources: February 12 - Naval History and Heritage Command

  3. Tomahawk combat debut

    NHHC's Desert Storm chronology records the first U.S. Navy Tomahawk launch at 0130 Persian Gulf time on 17 January 1991.

    Sources: H-058-1: Operation Desert Storm in January 1991

Media

Cruise missile Videos

Cruise missile Images

Cruise missile, Cruise missile, Munitions - view 1
Source: Commons USS Florida Tomahawk Launch
Related Weapon Systems
BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, Ship- and submarine-launched land-attack cruise missile, MunitionsMunitionsBGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack MissileShip- and submarine-launched land-attack cruise missileThe BGM-109 Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, often abbreviated TLAM, is a U.S. long-range subsonic cruise missile used for deep precision strikes from naval surface ships and submarines, with newer variants also adding maritime-strike and warhead modernization paths. Documented combat use spans the 1991 Gulf War through Libya, Syria, Yemen, the Red Sea Crisis, Operation Inherent Resolve, and U.S. strikes on Iranian targets during the 2020 United States-Iran Conflict and 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict.
GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator, Air-delivered deep-penetration guided bomb, MunitionsMunitionsGBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance PenetratorAir-delivered deep-penetration guided bombThe GBU-57A/B Massive Ordnance Penetrator is a Boeing-built U.S. Air Force GPS-guided bunker-buster bomb for hardened and deeply buried facilities. Developed from a Defense Threat Reduction Agency technology demonstration and integrated for B-2 Spirit employment, it became operationally documented in June 2025 when U.S. B-2s used 14 weapons against Iranian nuclear target areas during Operation Midnight Hammer, an event tracked in both the catalog's U.S.-Iran and 2025 Israel-Iran conflict scopes.
Ohio-class guided-missile submarine, Guided-missile submarine, Naval SystemsNaval SystemsOhio-class guided-missile submarineGuided-missile submarineThe Ohio-class guided-missile submarine is the U.S. Navy's converted SSGN platform for large Tomahawk strike loads, clandestine command-and-control, and special-operations support. Four former Ohio ballistic-missile submarines were refueled and converted in the 2000s, giving each boat up to 154 Tomahawk land-attack missiles plus space for SOF teams and equipment. The class has documented strike use in Libya in 2011 and in the 2020 United States-Iran Conflict during Operation Midnight Hammer.
F-22 Raptor, Fifth-generation stealth air-superiority fighter, Aircraft & UAVsAircraft & UAVsF-22 RaptorFifth-generation stealth air-superiority fighterThe F-22 Raptor is a U.S. fifth-generation stealth air-dominance fighter built around low-observable shaping, supercruise, thrust-vectoring F119 engines, integrated avionics, and internal weapons carriage. Designed first for air-to-air control, it also carries JDAM and small-diameter bomb loads for precision strike, with U.S. Air Force sources documenting combat use over Syria and Iraq during 2014 Operation Inherent Resolve and CENTCOM material identifying F-22s in the 2025 Operation Midnight Hammer strike package against Iran.

Related News

Sources

Britannica Cruise Missile OverviewPublisher: Encyclopaedia Britannica | Note: Supports general cruise missile background, low-altitude flight profile, and historical development context. | Accessed: 2026-06-22FPRI Air and Missile Defenses in the June 2025 Israel-Iran WarPublisher: Foreign Policy Research Institute | Note: Supports 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict missile-defense context and background on Iranian missile-force performance. | Accessed: 2026-06-22DOD Operation Midnight Hammer TranscriptPublisher: U.S. Department of Defense | Note: Supports 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict direct use of U.S. Tomahawk missiles against Iranian nuclear-infrastructure targets at Isfahan during Operation Midnight Hammer. | Accessed: 2026-07-03Defense News Ohio-Class Role in Iran StrikesPublisher: Defense News | Note: Supports 2025 Israel-Iran Conflict direct use of Tomahawk land-attack cruise missiles launched by a U.S. Ohio-class guided-missile submarine into Iran. | Accessed: 2026-07-03Commons Tomahawk Block IV Cruise MissilePublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and public-domain licensing for the primary illustrative image. | Accessed: 2026-06-22Commons USS Florida Tomahawk LaunchPublisher: Wikimedia Commons | Note: Supports image provenance and public-domain licensing for the secondary gallery image. | Accessed: 2026-06-22Tomahawk | NAVAIR - NavyPublisher: U.S. Navy | Note: Supports Tomahawk launch-platform context, Block V unit cost, propulsion, and general cruise-missile background used as a representative modern example. | Accessed: 2026-06-27Sequencer, V-1 Cruise MissilePublisher: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Note: Supports the V-1 as the world's first operational cruise missile and its June 1944 combat use. | Accessed: 2026-06-27"Buzz Bomb": 70th Anniversary of the V-1 CampaignPublisher: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum | Note: Supports the V-1 campaign timeline and the cruise-missile lineage that led to later atmospheric strike weapons. | Accessed: 2026-06-27February 12 - Naval History and Heritage CommandPublisher: Naval History and Heritage Command | Note: Supports the 1947 Cusk Loon launch as the first U.S. submarine-launched guided-missile event. | Accessed: 2026-06-27H-058-1: Operation Desert Storm in January 1991Publisher: Naval History and Heritage Command | Note: Supports the first U.S. Navy Tomahawk launch in Desert Storm at 0130 on 17 January 1991. | Accessed: 2026-06-27Destroyers (DDG 51)Publisher: United States Navy | Note: Supports DDG 51 background and the class's Mk 41 vertical launch battery that can carry Tomahawk cruise missiles. | Accessed: 2026-06-27Guided Missile Submarines - SSGNPublisher: U.S. Navy | Note: Supports Ohio-class guided-missile submarine background and Tomahawk loadout capacity. | Accessed: 2026-06-27AP News: North Korea's Kim claims progress on nuclear-armed navy as new warship is placed into servicePublisher: Associated Press | Note: Supports the Choe Hyon cruise-missile launch relationship described in commissioning coverage. | Accessed: 2026-06-28Al Jazeera gallery: North Korea commissions warship as Kim eyes nuclear navyPublisher: Al Jazeera | Note: Supports the Choe Hyon ship-launched cruise-missile relationship described in commissioning coverage. | Accessed: 2026-06-28