The Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN) air defence and command frigate (LCF) De Ruyter launched a Tomahawk land attack cruise missile off the US East Coast on 11 March 2025, the Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced the following day.
The test launch marked the first time that a Dutch warship has ever fired such a missile.
The launch, which was conducted in conjunction with the US Navy, was used to gather data that will eventually allow all four of the RNLN’s De Zeven Provinciën-class LCFs to be armed with Tomahawk missiles.
The De Zeven Provinciën-class frigates are primarily armed with SM-2 and Evolved SeaSparrow surface-to-air missiles, although they do also carry Harpoon anti-ship missiles. The ships’ Mk 41 Vertical Launch System can accommodate Tomahawk missiles.
In April 2023 the Dutch MoD announced that it had revived plans to arm the De Zeven Provinciën class with Tomahawks to give the frigates a longer-range surface-to-surface capability, stating that “The Tomahawk upgrade of De Zeven Provinciën, Tromp, De Ruyter and Evertsen frigates will take place during their maintenance planned for the 2025-2029 period”.
The latest conventionally armed Block IV/V Tomahawk Land Attack Missiles (TLAM-Cs) have a range exceeding 1,600 km.
