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, the Ground-Launched Small Diameter Bomb (GLSDB) [3] [4] [5] and the Long Range Precision Fires (LRPF). [6] [7] [8]

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">Cruise missile</span> Guided missile with precision targeting capabilities and multiple launch platforms

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.

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

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. Russia, the United States, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missile</span> Self-propelled guided weapon system

In military terminology, a missile is a guided airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight usually by a jet engine or rocket motor. Missiles are thus also called guided missiles or guided rockets. Missiles have five system components: targeting, guidance system, flight system, engine and warhead. Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes: surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, air-to-air missiles, and anti-satellite weapons.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ballistic missile</span> Missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath

A ballistic missile 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. Short-range ballistic missiles stay within the Earth's atmosphere, while intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) are launched on a sub-orbital flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dongfeng (missile)</span> Peoples Republic of Chinas Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

The Dongfeng series, typically abbreviated as "DF missiles", are a family of short, medium, intermediate-range and intercontinental ballistic missiles operated by the Chinese People's Liberation Army Rocket Force.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM-140 ATACMS</span> Rocket artillery

The MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) is a tactical ballistic missile manufactured by the US defense company Lockheed Martin. It has a range of up to 190 miles (300 km), with solid propellant, and is 13 feet (4.0 m) high and 24 inches (610 mm) in diameter. The ATACMS can be fired from the tracked M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System (MLRS), and the wheeled M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS).

Raytheon Missiles & Defense (RMD) is one of four business segments of Raytheon Technologies. Headquartered in Tucson, Arizona, its president is Wes Kremer. The business produces a broad portfolio of advanced technologies, including air and missile defense systems, precision weapons, radars, and command and control systems.

<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 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).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System</span> Multiple rocket launcher

The M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System is an American-developed armored, self-propelled, multiple rocket launcher.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BGM-109G Ground Launched Cruise Missile</span> Long-range, all-weather, subsonic tactical/strategic cruise missile

The Ground Launched Cruise Missile, or GLCM, was a ground-launched cruise missile developed by the United States Air Force in the last decade of the Cold War and disarmed under the INF Treaty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MGM-52 Lance</span> 1970s short-range ballistic missile of American origin

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">Prahaar (missile)</span> Tactical ballistic missile

Prahaar ("Strike") is an Indian solid-fuel road-mobile tactical ballistic missile developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Prahaar is expected to replace the Prithvi-I short-range ballistic missile in Indian service.

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

Project Wizard was a Cold War-era anti-ballistic missile system to defend against short and medium-range threats of the V-2 rocket type. It was contracted by the US Army Air Force in March 1946 with the University of Michigan's Aeronautical Research Center (MARC). A similar effort, Project Thumper, started at General Electric.

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

KN-24, officially the Hwasongpho-11Na(Korean: 《화성포-11나》형; Hanja: 火星砲 11나型; lit. Mars Artillery Type 11Na), is a designation given to a North Korean single-stage, solid-fueled tactical ballistic missile.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Precision Strike Missile</span> U.S. rocket artillery fired tactical ballistic missile

The Precision Strike Missile (PrSM) is a short-range ballistic missile being developed by the United States Army to replace the MGM-140 ATACMS.

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. It can also be fired from its own launch container, allowing it to be fired from sea.

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. ↑ Raytheon to offer new missile design for US Army's Long-Range Precision Fires requirement - Armyrecognition.com, 17 March 2016
  8. ↑ Raytheon to help Army develop new long-range artillery rocket for battlefield fire-support - Militaryaerospace.com, 16 March 2016
  9. ↑ "The Army Plans to Fire Its Version of the Navy's SM-6 Missile from This Launcher". 13 October 2021.
  10. ↑ "Roketsan - KARA ATMACA Surface-To-Surface Cruise Missile".
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