Bird Thou Never Wert

The Tomahawk is billed by the Defense Department as potentially one of the most important weapons in the U.S. arsenal. One version is designed to be launched from a submarine, fly as far as 2,000 miles and deliver its nuclear warhead within a few yards of its target. Another version, intended to sink enemy ships, carries a conventional warhead and has a range of more than 240 miles. Last week, at the Pentagon's invitation, about 40 reporters and photographers joined Defense Secretary Harold Brown on San Clemente Island to watch the submarine U.S.S. Guitarro launch an antiship Tomahawk off the California coast. While Brown, high-ranking Navy officers and their guests peered through binoculars, a sleek, 18-ft. missile burst from beneath the surface of the Pacific, soared up in a bright arc of smoke and flame, and sputtered out. As the missile tumbled down, a parachute popped out, floating it to a gentle splashdown. A few minutes later, the Guitarro sent up a second Tomahawk, but it too fizzled. Pentagon engineers speculated that sea water may have leaked into the missiles and kept them from working properly. Brown appeared undaunted. "Failure in the past increases the probability of success in the future," he told the reporters. Then, in a private aside, he muttered, "Well, we'll keep trying."

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