The following is a list of active missiles of the United States military .
Contents
- Air-to-air missiles
- Air-to-surface missiles
- Surface-to-air
- Surface-to-surface missiles
- Antisubmarine warfare
- ICBM
- Submarine-launched
- See also
 |
The following is a list of active missiles of the United States military .
|
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| Air-to-Air Stinger | Infrared homing | Mach 2.2 |  |
| AIM-7 Sparrow | Semi-active radar homing | Mach 4 |  |
| AIM-9 Sidewinder | Infrared homing | Unverified (≈Mach 2.7) |  |
| AIM-120 AMRAAM | Active radar homing | Mach 4 |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| AGM-65 Maverick | Infrared homing (AGM-65D/G/F) Semi-active laser homing (AGM-65E) Charge-coupled device (AGM-65H/K) | Mach 0.93 |  |
| AGM-88 HARM | Radiation homing | Mach 1.9 |  |
| AGM-158 JASSM | Global Positioning System | Subsonic |  |
| AGM-84 Harpoon | Active radar homing | Mach 0.72 |  |
| AGM-114 Hellfire | Semi-active laser homing (AGM-114K/M/N/P/R) Active radar homing (AGM-114L) | Mach 1.3 |  |
| AGM-86 ALCM | Global Positioning System | Subsonic |  |
| AGM-158C LRASM | Global Positioning System | High Subsonic |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RIM-7 Sea Sparrow | Semi-active radar homing | Mach 4 |  | |
| RIM-66 Standard | Command midcourse and Terminal Semi-active radar homing | Mach 3.5 |  | |
| FIM-92 Stinger | Infrared homing | Mach 2.54 |  | |
| MIM-104 Patriot | Command midcourse and Terminal Semi-active radar homing | Mach 5 |  | |
| RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile | Infrared homing | Mach 2.5 |  | |
| RIM-156A Standard | Command midcourse and Terminal Semi-active radar homing | Unverified (classified) |  | |
| RIM-161 Standard Missile 3 | GPS/INS/semi-active radar homing/passive LWIR infrared homing seeker (KW) | Unverified (≈Mach 9+) |  | |
| RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow | Command midcourse and Terminal Semi-active radar homing | Mach 4 |  | |
| RIM-174 Standard ERAM | Command midcourse and Terminal Active radar homing | Unverified (≈Mach 3.5) |  | |
| NASAMS (Used to protect high-value targets and Washington, D.C.) | Active radar homing | Mach 4 |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| FGM-148 Javelin | Infrared homing | Mach 0.32 |  |
| BGM-71 TOW | Wire-guided | Mach 0.8 |  |
| BGM-109 Tomahawk | Global Positioning System aided TERCOM | Mach 0.7 |  |
| RGM-84 Harpoon | Active radar homing | Mach 0.7 | |
| MGM-140 ATACMS | GPS-aided inertial navigation guidance | Mach 3 | |
| LRHW | - | Mach 17 |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| RUM-139 VL-ASROC | Inertial navigation system | Subsonic |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| LGM-30 Minuteman | Inertial navigation system GPS | ≈Mach 23 |  |
| Missile | Guidance | Speed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| UGM-133 Trident II | GPS | Mach 24 |  |
| UGM-109 Tomahawk | Global Positioning System | Mach 0.7 | |
| UGM-84 Harpoon | Active radar homing | Mach 0.7 | |
A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial or naval targets, that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at an approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of traveling at high subsonic, supersonic, or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.
The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis, was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of nuclear missiles in Italy and Turkey were matched by Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba. The crisis lasted from 16 to 28 October 1962. The confrontation is widely considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into full-scale nuclear war.
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery. Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness, but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Most modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs.
NATO uses a system of code names, called reporting names, to denote military aircraft and other equipment used by the post-Soviet states, former Warsaw Pact countries, China, and other countries. The system assists military communications by providing short, one or two-syllable names, as alternatives to the precise proper names – which may be easily confused under operational conditions or are unknown in the western world.
An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM), anti-tank missile, anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW) or anti-armor guided weapon is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles. ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by a single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted weapons, which require a squad or team to transport and fire, to vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems.
A ballistic missile (BM) is a type of missile that uses projectile motion to deliver warheads on a target. These weapons are powered only during relatively brief periods—most of the flight is unpowered. Ballistic missiles differs in range; short-range ballistic missiles (SRBM) stay within the Earth's atmosphere, while intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) are launched on a sub-orbital flight. They are internally guided, those for short range are typically inertial-guided while those for long range typically have more sophisticated guidance.
The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary such system used by the United States Army and several allied states. It is manufactured by the U.S. defense contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the "Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target," which is a backronym for "Patriot". In 1984, the Patriot system began to replace the Nike Hercules system as the U.S. Army's primary high to medium air defense (HIMAD) system and the MIM-23 Hawk system as the U.S. Army's medium tactical air defense system. In addition to these roles, Patriot has been given a function in the U.S. Army's anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system. As of 2016, the system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040.
A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is an exoatmospheric ballistic missile payload containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit a different target. The concept is almost invariably associated with intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying thermonuclear warheads, even if not strictly being limited to them. An intermediate case is the multiple reentry vehicle (MRV) missile which carries several warheads which are dispersed but not individually aimed. All nuclear-weapon states except Pakistan and North Korea are currently confirmed to have deployed MIRV missile systems. Israel is suspected to possess or be in the process of developing MIRVs.
An anti-ship missile (AShM) is a guided missile that is designed for use against ships and large boats. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing. A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way.
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles.
An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fueled but sometimes liquid fueled. Ramjet engines, as used on the Meteor, are emerging as propulsion that will enable future medium- to long-range missiles to maintain higher average speed across their engagement envelope.
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 range over ICBM threshold. The range definition used here is used within the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Some other sources include an additional category, the long-range ballistic missile (LRBM), to describe missiles with a range between IRBMs and true ICBMs. The more modern term theatre ballistic missile encompasses MRBMs and SRBMs, including any ballistic missile with a range under 3,500 km (2,175 mi).
The BGM-71 TOW is an American anti-tank missile. TOW replaced much smaller missiles like the SS.10 and ENTAC, offering roughly twice the effective range, a more powerful warhead, and a greatly improved semi-automatic command to line of sight (SACLOS) that could also be equipped with infrared cameras for night time use.
The Strategic Rocket Forces of the Russian Federation or the Strategic Missile Forces of the Russian Federation is a separate-troops branch of the Russian Armed Forces that controls Russia's land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). It was formerly part of the Soviet Armed Forces from 1959 to 1991.
A ranged weapon is any weapon that can engage targets beyond hand-to-hand distance, i.e. at distances greater than the physical reach of the user holding the weapon itself. The act of using such a weapon is also known as shooting. It is sometimes also called projectile weapon or missile weapon because it typically works by launching solid projectiles ("missiles"), though technically a fluid-projector and a directed-energy weapon are also ranged weapons. In contrast, a weapon intended to be used in hand-to-hand combat is called a melee weapon.
Man-portable air-defense systems are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
Cape Cod Space Force Station is a United States Space Force station located in the northwest corner of Joint Base Cape Cod, United States, on Flatrock Hill in Bourne, Massachusetts. Cape Cod Space Force Station began construction in 1976 as Cape Cod Missile Early Warning Station and was renamed Cape Cod Air Force Station in 1982, before assuming its current name in 2021.
Agni-V is a land based nuclear MIRV-capable Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation of India. The missile has a range of more than 7,000 km. It's a three-stage, road-mobile, canisterised and solid-fueled ballistic missile.