What is Missile ?

The long‐lived Hughes Falcon was a short‐ to medium‐range missile capable of Mach 4 speed and a range of about 7 miles. Guidance was by a Hughes‐developed semiactive radar homing system.

The guidance system is the most important and sophisticated part of the missile. In tactical missiles, electronic sensors locate the target by detecting energy emitted or reflected from it.

Missile design improved rapidly as better propellants, miniaturized circuitry, and improved systems came into being. A series of American missiles appeared that would continue in service for decades and be used in air forces around the world.

Tactical guided missiles are generally categorized according to the location of the launch platform and target.

Foreign industries arrived at similar solutions, and their designs were similarly long‐lived and widely used.

There are five types, air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air, antiship, and antitank, or assault.

example, heat-seeking missiles carry infrared sensors that allow them to “home” onto the hot exhaust of jet engines. Antiradiation missiles home onto radar emissions, while one type of optically homing missile may “lock” onto an image of the target that is captured by a television camera.

The heat‐seeking AIM‐9 Sidewinder first flew in September 1953, and continues in use today, after more than 110,000 have been produced.

Upon receiving information through its sensor, the guidance system relays instructions for course correction to the control mechanism through some type of autopilot contained within the missile or through commands transmitted from the launch platform.

Ballistic missiles are most often categorized as short-range, medium-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic missiles (SRBMs, MRBMs, IRBMs, and ICBMs). SRBMs are effective to 300 miles (480 km), MRBMs from 300 to 600 miles (480 to 965 km), IRBMs from 600 to 3,300 miles (965 to 5,310 km), and ICBMs more than 3,300 miles (5,310 km).

The successful and widely used Soviet AA‐2A Atoll was developed directly from captured Sidewinders. Missiles similar in principle and performance to the Sidewinder have also been built in China, France, Germany, Italy, Israel, and South Africa.

Ballistic missiles contain some type of inertial guidance system, which compares the missile’s actual speed and position to the positions that it must assume in order to hit the target. The guidance system then generates correcting commands to the control system.

The 186‐pound AIM‐9 has been produced in many variants, but may be described in general as a solid fuel rocket with a Mach 2 speed and a range of 10 miles.

Inertial guidance has become so accurate that the United States’ MX Peacekeeper ballistic missile, with a range of more than 6,000 miles (more than 9,650 km), has a 50-percent chance of delivering its 10 nuclear warheads within 400 feet (120 m) of their targets.

ICBMs are usually launched from silos, which are reinforced canisters sunk into the ground for protection.

The infrared homing device detects a target's heat source (e.g., a jet aircraft's tailpipe) and homes in on it. Raytheon and Loral are the primary contractors.

Tactical guided missiles are generally categorized according to the location of the launch platform and target. There are five types, air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air, antiship, and antitank, or assault.

Shorter-range ballistic missiles and some ICBMs are launched from railroad cars or wheeled trailers that offer the protection of mobility. “Hot-launched” ballistic missiles are launched directly from their canisters, while “cold-launched” missiles are ejected from the canisters by compressed gas before the rocket engines ignite.

A second long‐lived air‐to‐air missile is the AIM‐7 Sparrow, a semiactive Döppler radar‐guided medium‐range missile that was first flown in 1952 and came into operational use in 1958.

It has a maximum speed of Mach 3.5 and a range of 25 miles. More than 40,000 had been built when production ended in 1990. Principal contractors include Raytheon and Hughes Missile Systems.

Ballistic missiles are most often categorized as short-range, medium-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic missiles (SRBMs, MRBMs, IRBMs, and ICBMs). SRBMs are effective to 300 miles (480 km), MRBMs from 300 to 600 miles (480 to 965 km), IRBMs from 600 to 3,300 miles (965 to 5,310 km), and ICBMs more than 3,300 miles (5,310 km).

The Sparrow was effective during the Persian Gulf War in Operation Desert Storm, shooting down twenty‐three aircraft.

The 510‐pound Sparrow carries an 86‐pound warhead. The target is first acquired by the carrier's radar; after launch, a radar in the missile's nose, tuned to the fighter's radar signals, picks up the radiation reflected from the target and steers the missile to it.

ICBMs are usually launched from silos, which are reinforced canisters sunk into the ground for protection. Shorter-range ballistic missiles and some ICBMs are launched from railroad cars or wheeled trailers that offer the protection of mobility.

Intended for use against bombers, air‐to‐air missiles were disappointing in combat against fighter aircraft. In the Vietnam War, the Sparrow had a probability of kill (PK) of only about 9 percent, while the Sidewinder had a PK of about 15 percent, both exceedingly low figures when one considers the time and money expended on them and the expectations they had evoked. Later variants offered more discriminating seekers and better reliability.