The latest version of the Tomahawk missile has been upgraded with improved navigation and communications, enabling it to hit a greater variety of targets.

The US Navy primarily uses the Tomahawk family of missiles in ship- and submarine-based operations to strike both enemy ships and land targets from up to 1,609km away and at speeds of up to 885km per hour.

The Tomahawk is capable of traveling at extremely low altitudes to avoid radar detection, skimming the earth or sea at 30-plus meters above ground level.

The US Navy in 2020 began recertifying and modernizing the Block IV missile, extending its service life by 15 years, and resulting in the new Tomahawk Block V series. All Block IV Tomahawks are set to be converted to Block V standard, while the remaining Block III missiles will be retired.

The Block V features a navigation and communications upgrade that gives it longer range and more dynamic targeting than the Block IV has.

The new Block V Tomahawk includes two variants: the Block Va and the Block Vb.

The Block Va is the Maritime Strike Tomahawk variant capable of striking moving targets at sea.

The variant, which has a shorter range than the base Block V in exchange for more radar capabilities, is set to be carried by US Navy submarines starting in 2024.

Meanwhile, the Block Vb, also known as the Joint Multiple Effects Warhead System, is designed to enhance the penetration capabilities of the Tomahawk warhead.

That enables the Tomahawk to hit more diverse land targets and improve hard target penetration.

The navigation and communications upgrades are designed to make the Tomahawk tougher to counter and detect electronically, Bryan Clark, a retired submarine officer and senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, told Defense News in 2020.

"It has greater electronic hardening to be able to work through jamming more effectively," Clark said. "The hardening and the electronic countermeasures they've put into it make it harder to find and target with radar, and that improves its survivability."

"They've incorporated a lot of survivability into Tomahawk over the years, this takes it a step further to make it less susceptible to jamming of its seeker or its communications."