logoalt Hacker News

runakotoday at 3:30 PM2 repliesview on HN

Part of it is the sophistication. Take the Tomahawk: assumed range of ~1000 miles , estimated accuracy of 30 feet. Can launch from above or below water. Etc.

The other part is the limited production runs. Until last month, the DoD was generally purchasing ~100 of these annually. There's no scale economy in making these, so those 100 missiles need to support the entire production & R&D of the product.


Replies

regularfrytoday at 4:24 PM

It's worth reading up on the history of the Sidewinder development for the other side of this coin. Radically cheaper than the conventionally-developed alternatives at the time. It's grown legs in more recent marks but the first few variants were really not sophisticated at all.

whamlastxmastoday at 4:08 PM

I imagine part of it is also zero acceptance for failed launches. It needs to always work

show 1 reply