Cruise missiles cost about $600,000 a copy and we just used 125 of them...do the math on that!

Pretty expensive first strike!

The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high-value targets such as ships, command bunkers, bridges and dams[citation needed]. Modern guidance systems permit precise attacks.
(As of 2001) the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the U.S. naval arsenal. It gives ships and submarines an extremely accurate, long-range, conventional land attack weapon. Each costs about $600,000 U.S.D.[3] The US Air Force deploys an air launched cruise missile, the AGM-86. It can be launched from bombers like the B-52 Stratofortress. Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm.
Both Tomahawk (as BGM-109) and ALCM (AGM-86) were competing designs for the U.S.A.F. ALCM nuclear tipped cruise missile to be carried by the B-52 heavy bomber.[citation needed] The U.S.AF adopted the AGM-86 for its bomber fleet while AGM-109 was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the U.S.A.F and Navy. The truck-launched versions, and also the Pershing II and SS-20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, were later destroyed under the bilateral INF (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the U.S.S.R.
The British Royal Navy (RN) also operates cruise missiles, specifically the U.S.-made Tomahawk, used by the RN's nuclear submarine fleet. Conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by the RN in 1999, during the Kosovo War. The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Tornado GR4 aircraft. It is also used by France, where it is known as SCALP EG, and carried by the Armée de l'Air's Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft.
India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. There are three versions of the Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched version were operational as of late 2007. The Brahmos has the capability to attack targets on land. Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles: the SS-N-12 Sandbox, SS-N-19 Shipwreck, SS-N-22 Sunburn and SS-N-25 Switchblade. Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has developed its own cruise missile somewhat similar to Tomahawk cruise missile, named the Babur missile. Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) have designed several cruise missile variants, such as the well-known C-802, some of which are capable of carrying biological, chemical, nuclear, and conventional warheads.
[edit]Nuclear warhead versions


AGM-129 ACM
The U.S. has 460 AGM-129 Advanced Cruise Missiles (ACMs) with a W80 nuclear warhead (5 kt or 150 kt selectable yield) for B-52 Stratofortress (B-52H) external carriage. Also there are approximately 350 sea-launched cruise missiles with the same nuclear warhead. The range of the missile is 3000 km. These missiles have been "mothballed" and placed in storage.
The SSM-N-8 Regulus was also designed for a nuclear warhead.
See also:
The United States and weapons of mass destruction
Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty
Woensdrecht
Russia has Kh-55SM cruise missiles, with similar to U.S. AGM-129 range of 3000 km, but are able to carry more powerful warhead of 200 kt. They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an Inertial navigation system. They are air-launched from either Tupolev Tu-95s, Tupolev Tu-22Ms, or Tupolev Tu-160s, each able to carry 16 for the Tu-95, 12 for the Tu-160, and 4 for the Tu-22M. A Stealth version of the missile, the Kh-101 is in development. It has similar qualities as the Kh-55, except that it's range has been extended to 5,000 km, equipped with a 1,000 kg conventional warhead, and has stealth features which reduces it's probability of intercept.[4]
Pakistan also have Babur cruise missile and Ra'ad ALCM with nuclear warhead.
[edit]Efficiency in modern warfare
Currently cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this is that its users face difficult choices in targeting, to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance during Operation Enduring Freedom the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the same argument applies to other types of UAVs: they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account, not to mention the risk of loss of personnel. As demonstrated in the ongoing Operation Odyssey Dawn and prior conflicts, cruise missiles are much more difficult to detect and intercept then other aerial assets, making them particularly suited to attacks against static air defense systems.
[link to en.wikipedia.org]