Armored Box Launcher

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A tomahawk was shot down by the ABL from the US battleship USS New Jersey
Shot down from the USS Mississippi
ABL with dummy cruise missile on USS New Jersey

The Armored Box Launcher was a launch system for cruise missiles of the type BGM-109 Tomahawk of the United States Navy . It was used on the Iowa-class and Virginia-class ships, as well as on some Spruance-class ships and the USS Long Beach (CGN-9) .

Each of the containers contained four missiles that could be fired instantly. The particular advantage was the heavy armor that protected the missiles against possible enemy action. The main disadvantage of the system was that it could not be reloaded at sea.

Today the system is no longer in use, it has been replaced by the Vertical Launching System . The cruise missiles used today are therefore no longer compatible with the system.

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