WASHINGTON D.C. — The United States Navy announced Tuesday the official renaming of the BGM-109 Tomahawk cruise missile to the BGM-109 Karen, following a complaint filed by the ACLU citing the culturally insensitive nature of the weapon’s original name, a decision that generated a second ACLU complaint before the press release had finished loading.
The Karen name, selected after a fourteen-month rebranding process that cost the Navy $3.2 million and involved two outside consulting firms, was chosen for its geographic neutrality, cultural inoffensiveness, and what a Navy spokesperson described as a clean, approachable sound that honors the legacy of the system without marginalizing any community.
The ACLU filed its second complaint at 11:17 a.m. The press release had gone out at 11:14 a.m.
“We have concerns,” said ACLU communications director Beth Moss, who acknowledged that her organization had specifically requested the original renaming. “This is not what we meant.”
She was asked what they had meant.
She said the matter was under review.
The Navy said it stood behind the name and noted that the selection process had included three rounds of sensitivity screening, two focus groups, and a final approval from a committee of fourteen people, none of whom had apparently spoken to a woman named Karen or anyone who knew one.
Karen Bellweather, 54, of Chesapeake, Virginia, who works as a paralegal and has been named Karen her entire life, learned of the renaming from her son, who texted her a screenshot and then did not respond to follow-up messages for six hours.
“It’s a missile,” Bellweather said. “They named a missile after me. After all of us.” She paused. “I just want to be clear that I have never once asked to speak to a manager unprompted. I asked once. The situation warranted it.”
The Navy confirmed that the BGM-109 Karen has a range of 1,500 miles, carries a 1,000-pound warhead, and can be launched from surface ships and submarines. Officials noted that the weapon’s guidance system is extremely persistent, will not stop until it reaches its destination regardless of what anyone says to it, and upon acquiring a target will attempt to make contact with the enemy commander directly before detonation. Naval weapons engineers described this last behavior as an unintended emergent property that appeared during testing and which they have been unable to patch out.
“It just wants to talk to whoever is in charge,” said one engineer who asked not to be identified. “We don’t know why. We’ve accepted it.”
A target drone used in a February test exercise was destroyed after the Karen successfully identified the ranking officer on the opposing range control team, attempted to escalate to his supervisor, and detonated when informed that his supervisor was unavailable.
The Navy called that a successful intercept.
The National Karen Alliance, a support organization founded in 2021 for women whose lives have been affected by the name’s cultural drift, filed a formal protest with the Department of the Navy by end of business Tuesday. The protest cited reputational harm, emotional distress, and what the filing described as a deeply unfunny pattern of institutional behavior toward a group that did not ask for any of this.
A woman named Karen who works in the Pentagon’s public affairs office and asked not to be identified was assigned to handle press inquiries about the BGM-109 Karen. She requested a transfer within the hour. The transfer was denied. She requested to speak to someone above her supervisor. That person also denied the transfer. She is currently still handling press inquiries.
The original ACLU complaint, which had cited the Tomahawk name as harmful to Indigenous communities, was described by tribal representatives as now considerably less pressing in the context of current events.
“We appreciate the Navy’s willingness to engage with our concerns,” said one tribal spokesperson. “We would like to formally withdraw from this conversation.”
The consulting firm that recommended the Karen name issued a statement saying the selection had tested well among a demographic that the firm declined to identify. A follow-up question about that demographic was not answered. The firm’s website went down briefly Tuesday afternoon for what was described as scheduled maintenance.
The Navy said a third naming review process was not currently planned but acknowledged the situation was, quote, fluid.
At press time, three Karen Bellweathers, two Karen Mitchells, a Karen Okafor, and a woman named Karen who had legally changed her name to Karin in 2022 and was furious about it had retained the same attorney. The BGM-109 Karen had successfully completed a second test launch off the coast of California. It hit the target. Upon impact the weapon’s onboard systems transmitted a 47-second audio recording to the range control net. The content of the recording has not been released. Three sailors who monitored the transmission requested reassignment. Analysts described the strike as persistent, focused, and extremely difficult to redirect once committed. The Navy called that a feature.
