Armored Box Launcher

From Freepedia

The Armored Box Launcher (ABL) is a four-round protected launch container for the BGM-109 Tomahawk Cruise Missile.

Fitted to the Iowa-class battleships following their 1980's recommissioning upgrade, each ABL contains four ready-to-fire Tomahawks. The use of ABL's on these vessels rather than a non-armoured solution was necessitated to enable the battleships to continue to exploit the capability provided by their heavy armour and reduce the vulnerability of the delicate missiles within. Eight ABL's were fitted to each of the four recommissioned battleships, providing 32 weapons to each ship. Some of the original dual 5 inch gun mounts were removed to fit the ABL's and the launchers are visible at right.

Aside from being fitting on to the United States Navy's Iowa-class battleships, this system was also fitted on some of the original Spruance-class destroyers. Since the Armored Box Launcher missile system has been phased out in favor of the much larger and more articulated Vertical Launching System many ships so fitted with ABL's were later refitted with VLS.