Why the Navy’s Tomahawk missiles were the weapon of choice in strikes in Syria

One of the largest advantages to using the Tomahawk is that it does not require a pilot to be anywhere near a potential target. They can be launched from Navy destroyers up to 1,000 miles away, a tactical consideration when facing enemy air defenses. Assad’s military operates modest S-200 surface-to-air missile systems but is backed by Russian forces, which have more advanced S-300 and S-400 missiles. Those systems have better radar and fly faster than older surface-to-air missiles.

Chris Harmer, a defense analyst and former naval officer now with the Institute for the Study of War, said that the U.S. military can jam some of the Russian radar through the use of the EA-18G Growler jet and other means. But the Russians likely can withstand some of that jamming, especially the most advanced S-400 systems.

“We have the advantage, but it doesn’t mean it renders the Russian air defense irrelevant,” Harmer said.

Tomahawks have less explosive yield than larger bombs carried by manned U.S. aircraft, but to bomb Syrian planes on the ground, that does not matter, Harmer said. Planes, he said, are the “softest of soft targets” and do not require the largest U.S. munitions to destroy or incapacitate them.