US has not agreed to transfer Tomahawk long-range missiles to Ukraine, - Trump
US President Donald Trump said that Ukraine will not receive Tomahawk missiles because it takes at least six months to learn how to operate these long-range missiles.
According to Censor.NET, Trump made this statement during a conversation with journalists.
"There is a tremendous learning curve with a Tomahawk. It is a very powerful weapon, very accurate weapon, and maybe that's what makes it so complex. It takes a year of intense training to learn how to use it. And we know how to use it. And we're not going to be teaching other people," the politician said.
He stressed that the US Army does not plan to train military personnel from other countries on how to use Tomahawk missiles.
According to Trump, the only way Ukraine could launch Tomahawk missiles would be if the US fired them.
"They're highly complex, so the only way a 'Tomahawk' is going to be shot is if we shot it. And we're not going to do that," - the head of the White House stressed.
Negotiations between Ukraine and the United States on the transfer of Tomahawk missiles
On 6 October, Trump stated that he had made a decision to supply Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine to a certain extent, while emphasising that he did not want escalation and wanted to know the specific targets for their use and flight routes before making a final decision.
Earlier, US Vice President J. D. Vance confirmed that Washington was discussing the possibility of supplying Tomahawks, but that the final decision was up to Trump. Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that during a meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the presidents of Ukraine and the US touched on the issue of lifting the taboo on arms supplies.
On 8 October, Zelenskyy told reporters that during a meeting at the White House on 18 August, Trump did not refuse the request for Tomahawks. On 10 October, Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that if these missiles were supplied, Moscow would respond by strengthening its air defence system.
On 13 October, Trump said that the US could send Tomahawks to Ukraine if Putin refused to settle the conflict. On 16 October, the US and Russian presidents held a telephone conversation during which, according to Trump, Putin did not like the idea of supplying missiles.
On 17 October, during a meeting in Washington, Zelenskyy confirmed that Trump had not said a definite "no,’" but had not given a direct "yes" either. On 20 October, Zelenskyy noted that European leaders were considering asking Trump to allow Ukraine to use Tomahawks.
What is known about Tomahawk missiles
Tomahawk is an American long-range, low-altitude cruise missile designed to strike ground and, in some variants, sea targets with high accuracy. Its serial production began in the 1980s.
Main technical characteristics:
- Speed: subsonic, ≈ Mach 0.7 (approximately 500–600 mph).
- Range: depends on the variant; the modern Block IV/Block V has a range of ~900 nautical miles (≈1,600 km) or more; the exact limits are partially classified.
- Warhead: single unitary warhead approximately 450–1,000 lb class (depending on variant). Previously, there were also special warheads (submunitions, even a nuclear variant in the past).
- Navigation/guidance: combined - INS + GPS, TERCOM/DSMAC (terrain correlation), and in blocks IV/V - a two-way communication channel for re-guidance, a "looter" and the ability to retarget in flight.
Tomahawks have been widely used in a number of conflicts (the Balkans in the 1990s, Iraq, Syria, etc.), mainly for strikes against important ground targets. In the 2020s, they were also used in operations against the Houthis.
Tomahawk is a powerful, time-tested cruise missile with a long range, high accuracy and the ability to re-target in flight. For Ukraine, its transfer would make it possible to strike distant targets with high accuracy, but in practice, the issue is complicated by launch platforms, availability of stocks, political and strategic risks, as well as the need for logistics and training.
