There have been several variants, employing several kinds of warheads. The operational versions include the unitary conventional land attack TLAM-C, the bomblet-dispensing land attack TLAM-D, and nuclear land attack (TLAM-A and TLAM-N) (not deployed). There is also the Tomahawk Anti-Ship Missile (TASM). Ground Launch Cruise Missiles and their truck-like launch vehicles were destroyed to comply with the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

The Block III TLAMs that entered service in 1993 can fly farther and use Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers to strike more precisely. Block IV TLAMs have a better Digital Scene Matching Area Correlator (DSMAC) system as well as improved turbo engines. . The follow-on Block IV Phase II TLAMs have better deep-strike capabilities and are equipped with a real-time targeting system against armored moving targets.

By far the biggest improvement is making the Tomahawk Network-centric warfare-capable, using data from multiple sensors (aircraft, UAVs, satellites, foot soldiers, tanks, ships) to find its target. It will also be able to send data from its sensors to these platforms. It will be a part of the networked force envisioned by the Pentagon.

”Tactical Tomahawk” equips the TLAM with a TV-camera for battlefield observation loitering that allows warfighting commanders to assess damage to the target and to redirect the missile to an alternative target. Additionally the Tactical Tomahawk is able to be reprogrammed in-flight to attack one of 16 predesignated targets with GPS coordinates stored in its memory or to any other GPS coordinates. Also, the missile can send data about its status back to the commander. It entered service with the Navy in late 2004.

Tomahawks are difficult to intercept, due to their small size, small radar cross-section and low-altitude flight.

Each missile is stored and launched from a pressurized canister that protects it during transportation and storage and acts as a launch tube. These canisters are racked in Armored Box Launchers, as on the battleship Missouri, Vertical Launch Systems in other surface ships and the later Los Angeles-class submarines, and in submarines' torpedo tubes.

The missile is launched and steered for the first few seconds of flight by a solid fuel booster with steering vanes in its exhaust. Then the stubby wings and control surfaces are deployed, and the turbofan engine takes over. Over water, the Tomahawk uses inertial guidance to follow a preset course; once over land, the inertial system is aided by Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM). Terminal guidance is provided by the Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) system, producing a claimed accuracy of about 10 meters.

The Tomahawk Weapon System consists of the missile, Theater Mission Planning Center (TMPC)/Afloat Planning System, and either the Tomahawk Weapon Control System (on surface ships) or Combat Control System (for submarines).

TWCS - Tomahawk Weapon Control System (1983), also known as "green screens," was based on an old tank computing system.

ATWCS - Advanced Tomahawk Weapon Control System (1994), first Commercial Off the Shelf, uses HPUX.

TTWCS - Tactical Tomahawk Weapon Control System, (2003).

In the 1991 Persian Gulf conflict, 288 Tomahawks were launched, including 12 by two attack submarines on April 2, 1991, the USS Pittsburgh (SSN-720) and USS Louisville (SSN-724).

In 1995, the U.S. agreed to sell Britain more than 60 Tomahawks to arm Royal Navy (RN) nuclear submarines. The first missiles were acquired in 1998, with the first RN Tomahawk test also occurring that year. It is, as of 2004, in use with the Swiftsure and Trafalgar class nuclear fleet submarines, and it is planned all RN submarines will be Tomahawk capable by 2008. The Tomahawk will also be deployed by the future Astute-class nuclear fleet submarine. In 2004, the UK and USA governments reached an agreement for the UK to buy sixty-four of the new generation of Tomahawk missile, the Block IV or TacTom missile. The SYLVER vertical launch system to be fitted to the Type 45 destroyer is claimed to have the capability to fire the Tomahawk by its manufacturers. Therefore it would appear that Tomahawk is a candidate to be fitted to the T45 if the decision is made to fit her with cruise missiles. However, there is some doubt over the truth of the manufacturer's claims. France, which also uses the SYLVER launcher, is developing a version of the Storm Shadow/Scalp cruise missile capable of launch from the SYLVER system, which would give a similar land attack capability.

It was first used by the RN, when HMS Splendid fired Tomahawks during the Kosovo War in 1999. It was later used by the RN in the Afghanistan War in 2001, as-well as Operation Telic, the British contribution to the 2003 Iraq War.

Length: 5.56 m; with booster: 6.25 m.

Diameter: 518 mm.

Wing Span: 2.67 m.

Weight: 1192.5 kg; 1440 kg with booster.

Power Plant: Williams International F107-WR-402 turbo-fan and a solid-fuel booster.

Range: 1100 km.

Speed: about 880 km/h

Warheads: Conventional: 1,000 lb (450 kg) Bullpup, or submunitions dispenser with combined effect bomblets, or 200 kiloton W-80 nuclear device.

Date Deployed: 1983

Costs: $1,900,000 - average unit cost; $11,210,000,000 - total program cost.