Tomahawk (missile family) in the context of "Air burst"

A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled guided missile that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large payload over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.

Operation Desert Storm, the combat phase of the Gulf War, began with an extensive aerial bombing campaign by the air forces of the coalition against targets in Iraq and Iraqi-occupied Kuwait from 17 January to 23 February 1991. Spearheaded by the United States, the coalition flew over 100,000 sorties, dropping 88,500 tons of bombs, widely destroying military and civilian infrastructure. The air campaign was commanded by United States Air Force (USAF) Lieutenant General Chuck Horner, who briefly served as Commander-in-Chief—Forward of U.S. Central Command while General Norman Schwarzkopf was still in the United States. The British air commanders were Air Chief Marshal Andrew Wilson, to 17 November 1990, and Air Vice-Marshal Bill Wratten, from 17 November. The air campaign had largely finished by 23 February 1991 with the beginning of the coalition ground offensive into Kuwait.

The initial strikes were carried out by AGM-86 ALCM cruise missiles launched by B-52 Stratofortress bombers, Tomahawk cruise missiles launched from U.S. Navy warships situated in the Persian Gulf, by F-117 Nighthawk stealth attack aircraft with an armament of laser-guided smart bombs, and by F-4G Wild Weasel aircraft and F/A-18 Hornet aircraft armed with HARM anti-radar missiles. These first attacks allowed F-14 Tomcat, F-15 Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, and F/A-18 Hornet combat aircraft to gain air superiority over Iraq and then continue to drop television-guided and laser-guided bombs.

The Arleigh Burke class of guided-missile destroyers (DDGs) is a United States Navy class of destroyers centered around the Aegis Combat System and the SPY-1D multifunction passive electronically scanned array radar. The class is named after Arleigh Burke, an American destroyer admiral in World War II and later Chief of Naval Operations. With an overall length of 505 to 509.5 feet (153.9 to 155.3 m), displacement ranging from 8,300 to 9,700 tons, and weaponry including over 90 missiles, the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers are larger and more heavily armed than many previous classes of guided-missile cruisers.

These warships are multimission destroyers able to conduct antiaircraft warfare with Aegis and surface-to-air missiles; tactical land strikes with Tomahawk missiles; antisubmarine warfare (ASW) with towed array sonar, antisubmarine rockets, and ASW helicopters; and antisurface warfare (ASuW) with ship-to-ship missiles and guns. With upgrades to their AN/SPY-1 radar systems and their associated missile payloads as part of the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System, as well as the introduction of the AN/SPY-6 radar system, the class has also evolved capability as mobile antiballistic missile and antisatellite platforms.

A submarine-launched cruise missile (SLCM) is a cruise missile that is launched from a submarine (especially a SSG or SSGN). Current versions are typically standoff weapons known as land-attack cruise missiles (LACMs), which are used to attack predetermined land targets with conventional or nuclear payloads. Anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCMs) are also used, and some submarine-launched cruise missiles have variants for both functions.