- Armored Box Launcher
The Armored Box Launcher (ABL) is a four-round protected launch container for the
BGM-109 Tomahawk Cruise Missile.Fitted to the "Iowa"-class battleships following their 1980s recommissioning upgrade, each ABL contains four ready-to-fire Tomahawks. The use of ABL
' s on these vessels rather than a non-armored solution was necessitated to enable the battleships to continue to exploit the capability provided by their heavy armor and reduce the vulnerability of the delicate missiles within. Eight ABL' s were fitted to each of the four recommissioned battleships, providing 32 weapons to each ship. Some of the original dual 5 inch (127 mm) gun mounts were removed to fit the ABL' s and the launchers are visible at right.Aside from being fitted on to the
United States Navy ' s "Iowa"-class battleships, this system was also fitted on the nuclear powered cruisers, including the "Long Beach" and the "Virginia"-class as well as some "Spruance"-classdestroyer s. The cruisers and destroyers were fitted with two ABLs each for a total of 8 missiles.Since then the Armored Box Launcher missile system has been phased out in favor of the more flexible, larger capacity Vertical Launching System (VLS). Some of the "Spruance"-class ships formerly fitted with ABL
' s were later refitted with VLS.The Armored Box Launcher shares one common handicap with the Vertical Launching System: It can not be reloaded at sea. The ship in question must return to port in order to receive and load her ABLs.
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