Netherlands Set To Buy Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles

The Netherlands looks poised to spend upwards of $2 billion to acquire Tomahawk cruise missiles from manufacturer RTX after America gave the green light to a potential deal.

As per a recent Defence Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA) press statement, the U.S. State Department has approved the sale of up to 163 Tomahawk Block V missiles, along with 12 Tomahawk Block IVs. 

The proposed deal also includes associated equipment including satellite data link terminals; integrated secure broadcast systems and technical and logistical support. The total estimated cost of the deal has been put at $2.19 billion. 

The Tomahawk is a long-range subsonic cruise missile used mainly by the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy, although it is also supplied to selected other international allies. Early iterations of the missile have been in use since the 1970s and are designed to hit land targets.

The latest Block V variants, introduced from 2021, cost in excess of $2 million per unit. They have longer range and dynamic targeting, and can also be used to hit vessels at sea as well as land targets, depending on payload. They can be fired from a range of platforms including submarines, warships, and the ground-based Typhon missile launcher. 

Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) frigate HNLMS De Ruyter became the first Dutch vessel to fire a Tomahawk missile in March this year.

According to the Dutch Ministry of Defence, the successful test firing took place from the De Zeven Provinciën-class vessel off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, in collaboration with a defence project team from the U.S. Navy.

The RNLN has also previously been looking at acquiring Tomahawk missiles as a land-attack option for its future Orka-class submarines, and possibly adapting its existing Walrus-class boats to fire them too.

The DSCA statement noted: “This proposed sale will support the foreign policy goals and national security objectives of the United States by improving the security of a NATO Ally that is a force for political stability and economic progress in Europe.

“The proposed sale will improve the Netherland’s capability to meet current and future threats by utilizing long-range, conventional surface-to-surface missiles with significant standoff range that can neutralize growing threats.”

Australia is eventually set to acquire more than 200 Tomahawks, to be deployed in its Hobart-class destroyers and future platforms, including Virginia-class submarines and possibly also Hunter-class frigates. In December 2024 Royal Australian Navy (RAN) destroyer HMAS Brisbane conducted its first test-firing off the coast of San Diego, California.

Japan is also seeking to acquire the Tomahawk; in late 2023  the U.S. State Department approved a potential sale of up to 400 missiles. The Royal Canadian Navy’s new River-class destroyers may also be equipped with the missile.

• You can read more details about the proposed sale on the DSCA website and more about the RNLN test on the Dutch Navy website