There is an ongoing debate on how much silver is in a Tomahawk Missile. The number has always been suggested, but never really confirmed. In this post, we confirm the Tomahawk missile silver content. We also confirm the number of Tomahawk missiles in storage, the countries using them and the future of Tomahawk missiles. And we also discuss the amount of silver that is being destroyed with every missile launched.
Let’s jump in.
How Much Silver Is In a Tomahawk Missile
Andy Schechtman has recently confirmed that there are 500 ounces of silver in a Tomahawk cruise missile at the VRIC for Soar Financially. A source that worked on the cruise missile program that is now declassified confirmed this at a recent silver event to Schechtman. The source also had photos that corroborated the 500 ounces of silver. This claim is now a fact which leads into the next question, how much silver has been destroyed in combat.
How Much Silver Has Been Destroyed in Tomahawk Missiles
The United States Navy reports that since 1983, over 2,300 Tomahawk missiles have been deployed in combat. And that number is increasing by the day. With the tomahawk missile silver content confirmed as 500 ounces per missile, that is 1.1 million ounces destroyed.
In 2024, the number would be far higher than that. Meanwhile, millions of silver ounces are gaining value in Tomahawk stockpiles, waiting to be destroyed. But how many ounces would that be?
How Many Tomahawk Missiles Does the US Have in Stockpiles?
The tomahawk missile serves as the US Navy’s primary land-attack weapon. In 2020, the US Tomahawk missile inventory was estimated at 4000 missiles. These 4000 missiles has a total of 2 million ounces of silver, waiting to be deployed and destroyed. And that is exactly what has been happening. The Navy has been firing the Tomahawks faster than they can replace them.
Recently in Yemen, the Navy used more than 80 Tomahawks in it’s opening day of strikes. And in 2023, 68% of the 55 Tomahawk missiles purchased were fired at the Houthis in one day. As you can see, the stockpile can dwindle rapidly.
But now the Tomahawks aren’t just being used by the US. The Tomahawks are being shared with other countries via exclusive military contracts worth big, big bucks.
What Countries Have Tomahawk Missiles
The US signed a three way pact with the UK and Australia to share technology and resources to build a fleet of nuclear powered submarines. These subs will be armed to fire Tomahawk missiles.
The UK plan to upgrade their existing inventory of Tomahawk missiles they have had for a few years. While the US will supply more than 200 tomahawk missiles to Australia, part of the AUKUS deal for new submarines. And Japan recently signed a deal for 400 Tomahawk missiles to increase their counterstrike capability against regional neighbors. The Japanese missile capability is set to be made operational by 2026-2027.
Navy documents reveal there is still a huge demand for tomahawk missiles. This means the demand for 500 silver ounces in each and every missile will continue. Unfortunately, the Silver in Missiles is not included in the Silver Institutes reporting. And silver is not listed as a critical mineral for the US, UK or Australia. But these missiles cannot be built without silver. And without missiles, there is no defense. So how is silver not a critical mineral?
With all of the demand on Tomahawk missiles, it seems like the US is slowing down production. Let’s take a look at how many missiles can be made per year.
How Many Tomahawk Missiles Can the US Build in One Year?
The US can only build 5 Tomahawk missiles per month based on the current capacity constraints. There is a two year lead time with delivery to begin in January 2025.
Previous use of the missiles in conflicts like the Gulf War in 1991 used 300 Tomahawk missiles. While the invasion of Iraq launched 800 Tomahawk missiles. The US has thousands of Tomahawks ready to go. But all it takes is a few conflicts to rapidly diminish that supply.
If we are in a perpetual state of war, and the US is providing missiles to strategic partners, they will need more Tomahawks. But what could be the reason for the slowdown in Tomahawk production?
What is the Future of Tomahawk missiles
The production level of tomahawk missiles is low but that is likely by choice. The US has thousands of Tomahawks in storage and they will keep them in its inventory through 2040. And this should be enough until the next weapon is ready to roll within the next 5 years.
A surface and submarine launched Next Generation Land Attack Weapon (NGLAW) will replace the Tomahawk Weapon System. The replacement weapon being developed can strike targets at sea and on land. These new missiles will have the latest tech and the Navy estimates that they will be operational around 2028 to 2030.
The production of Tomahawk missiles will likely stop by 2030, as the Navy transitions to the next generation missiles. Buy what does this all mean for silver used in tomahawk missiles?
The State of Silver in Tomahawk Missiles
Production of any new Tomahawk missile will need 500 ounces of silver. If the US continues to build tomahawk missiles at their current rate of 5 missiles a month, or 60 missiles a year for the next 5 years. That is 300 more missiles, which doesn’t sound like much. But that is 150,000 ounces of silver to be mined and utilized, ready to be destroyed.
And there is a high likelihood that the Next-Gen missiles set to replace the Tomahawks will also require silver. The amount of ounces required in these missiles is currently unknown.
Based on reporting from the Silver Academy, it is estimated that any missile has 100 ounces of silver in it. But we can only assume the next-gen missiles replacing the tomahawks will need to pack a punch, and a number closer to 500 ounces of silver is more likely.
Either way, it looks like silver is still an important component of current and future tomahawk manufacturing for the National Defense of the US, UK, Australia and Japan. They just better hope the silver price remains low and silver remains available to ensure national defense is not jeopardized.
Final Thoughts
Andy Schechtman has confirmed there are 500 ounces of silver in a Tomahawk Missile. And when he spoke about that for the VRIC, it did trigger many thoughts about silver in missiles, the destruction of silver and the impact on silver prices. Which lead to this post being researched and written.
There are so many unknowns when it comes to silver and it’s usage that is not reported. But it is fun to extrapolate and speculate on silver usage in Tomahawk missiles. And that information could be the top of the iceberg, as new reporting is slowly released on silver usage in military and aerospace.
Let me know what you think about the Tomahawk data and the level of Silver that is used. Will there be any impact on silver usage, reporting or price? Drop a comment below.
M. Moneyman
FAQs
What is the Tomahawk Missile Silver Content
It was recently confirmed by Andy Schechtman, the president of Miles Franklin and Silver expert, that there are 500 ounces of Silver in a Tomahawk missile. A source that worked on the cruise missile program that is now declassified confirmed this to Schechtman at a recent silver event. The source also had photos that corroborated the 500 ounces of silver.
References:
The research for this post, and all of the articles and papers used as references have been linked throughout the article. There was some great and deep resources, and worth a click through if you are interested in the topic.
