Iran conflict 2026: US forces employ suspected new variant of Tomahawk cruise missile

An RGM-109 Tomahawk featuring a black fuselage, possibly the Block Va Maritime Strike Tomahawk, is launched from the USS Spruance during Operation ‘Epic Fury'. (CENTCOM)

Following the launch of Operation ‘Epic Fury', imagery released by US Central Command (CENTCOM) shows what appears to be a new variant of the Tomahawk weapons system employed in combat for the first time.

The US Navy (USN) released an image of the USS Spruance (DDG 111), an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, firing what appears to be a new variant of the RGM-109 Tomahawk land-attack cruise missile with a dark-coloured coating painted across the fuselage. Due to the similarity of this missile design to imagery in unclassified US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) briefings from March 2025, and in light of assertions by US President Donald Trump that the US had targeted and sunk nine unspecified Iranian warships, Janes assesses this was likely the first combat deployment of the RGM-109 Block Va Maritime Strike Tomahawk (MST) cruise missile.

The Block Va MST is a derivation of the Block V Tomahawk with upgraded guidance systems to enable the targeting of mobile naval assets as well as the fixed land targets conventional Tomahawk missiles are designed to engage. In addition to the two-way datalink standardised with the Block V upgrade, the MST variant features multimode guidance capabilities including a radio frequency (RF) seeker, an imaging infrared (IIR) sensor, and GPS-assisted guidance.

This RGM-109 variant is launched from the Mk 41 vertical launching system (VLS) mounted on the USS Spruance's bow, though USN officials have previously indicated plans to deploy a submarine-launched variant of the Block Va MST as well.