Surface-to-surface missile

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A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) or ground-to-ground missile (GGM) [1] is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land or at sea. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations, or from a ship. They are often powered by a rocket engine or sometimes fired by an explosive charge, since the launching platform is typically stationary or moving slowly. They usually have fins and/or wings for lift and stability, although hyper-velocity or short-ranged missiles may use body lift or fly a ballistic trajectory. [2] The V-1 flying bomb was the first operational surface-to-surface missile.

Contents

Contemporary surface-to-surface missiles are usually guided. An unguided surface-to-surface missile is usually referred to as a rocket (for example, an RPG-7 or M72 LAW is an anti-tank rocket), whereas a BGM-71 TOW or AT-2 Swatter is an anti-tank guided missile.

Examples of surface-to-surface missile include the MGM-140 ATACMS and the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB). [3] [4] [5] [6]

Examples

Types

Surface-to-surface missiles are usually divided into a number of categories:

Different parties break down missile type by the range differently. For example, the United States Department of Defense has no definition for LRBM, and thus defines an ICBM as those missiles with ranges greater than 5,500 km (3500 mi). The International Institute for Strategic Studies also does not define a range for LRBMs, and defines SRBMs as having somewhat shorter ranges than the definition used by the Department of Defense.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intercontinental ballistic missile</span> Ballistic missile with a range of more than 5,500 kilometres

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM-140 ATACMS</span> American tactical ballistic missile

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System is a tactical ballistic missile designed and manufactured by the US defense company Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV), and later Lockheed Martin through acquisitions. It uses solid propellant, is 13 feet (4.0 m) long and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter, and the longest-range variants can fly up to 190 miles (300 km). The missiles can be fired from the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS) and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Intermediate-range ballistic missile</span> Ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km

An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,500 km, between a medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM) and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). Classifying ballistic missiles by range is done mostly for convenience. In principle there is very little difference between a low-performance ICBM and a high-performance IRBM, because decreasing payload mass can increase the range over the ICBM threshold. The range definition used here is used within the U.S. Missile Defense Agency.

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The MGM-52 Lance was a mobile field artillery tactical surface-to-surface missile system used to provide both nuclear and conventional fire support to the United States Army. The missile's warhead was developed at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. It was replaced by MGM-140 ATACMS, which was initially intended to likewise have a nuclear capability during the Cold War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RIM-161 Standard Missile 3</span> Kinetic surface-to-air missile (Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System)

The RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 (SM-3) is a ship-based surface-to-air missile used by the United States Navy to intercept short- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles as a part of Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. Although primarily designed as an anti-ballistic missile, the SM-3 has also been employed in an anti-satellite capacity against a satellite at the lower end of low Earth orbit. The SM-3 is primarily used and tested by the United States Navy and also operated by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Project Wizard</span> US anti-ballistic missile system

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">KN-24</span> North Korean short-range ballistic missile

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb</span> Surface-to-surface missile

The Ground Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) is a weapon developed by Boeing and the Saab Group to allow Boeing's GBU-39 Small Diameter Bomb (SDB), originally developed for use by aircraft, to be ground-launched from a variety of launchers and configurations. It combines the SDB with the M26 rocket, enabling it to be launched from ground-based missile systems such as the M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System and M142 HIMARS.

References

  1. ↑ "The world's top air-to-surface missiles". November 2019.
  2. ↑ Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 254. ISBN   9780850451634.
  3. ↑ Mehta, Aaron (10 March 2015). "Boeing, Saab Unveil Ground Launched SDB". Defensenews.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB)". Archived from the original on 2017-03-27. Retrieved 2017-03-26.
  5. ↑ "Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB)". Army-technology.com. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  6. ↑ Osborn, Kris (6 September 2016). "US Army's New Ground-Launched Missile: Raining Down Death from 500 Kilometers Away". Nationalinterest.org. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  7. ↑ "The Army Plans to Fire Its Version of the Navy's SM-6 Missile from This Launcher". 13 October 2021.
  8. ↑ "Roketsan - KARA ATMACA Surface-To-Surface Cruise Missile".
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