Surface-to-surface missile
A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) 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.[1] The first operational surface-to-surface missile was the V-1 flying bomb, it was powered by a pulsejet engine.
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[2] and the Scud family of missiles.[3]
Examples
[edit]- ALAS
- BGM-109 Tomahawk[4]
- Bina
- Hermes
- Hyunmoo-3
- KARA Atmaca[5]
- Kh-35
- Long-Range Hypersonic Weapon (LRHW)
- Luz
- Martlet
- MGM-166 LOSAT
- MGM-140 ATACMS
- Nimrod
- Otomat
- PARS 3 LR
- Polyphem
- P-800 Oniks
- RBS-15
- Ure
- 3M-54 Kalibr
- 9K720 Iskander
Types
[edit]There are a wide variety of surface-to-surface missiles, and they can be categorized by their intended usage, intended target (such as anti-ship), flight profile, and launch platform, with these categorizations often overlapping. They may be launched from fixed silos, road-mobile vehicle, railcar, or naval launch platforms.
Cruise missiles travel at lower speeds and trajectories (often a few meters above ground), always within the atmosphere, and their motor burns during the entire flight. Ballistic missiles travel at higher speeds and trajectories with a short powered flight (boost phase) followed by a period of typically unpowered flight often exiting the atmosphere (midcourse phase), followed by a high speed unpowered terminal re-entry. They are typically classified by range band, from shortest to longest:
- Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM): Range less than 1,000 km.[6].
- Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM): Range between 1,000 km and 3,000 km.[6]
- Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM): Range between 3,000 km and 5,500 km.[6]
- Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM): Range greater than 5,500 km.[6]
References
[edit]- ^ Wragg, David W. (1973). A Dictionary of Aviation (first ed.). Osprey. p. 254. ISBN 9780850451634.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "SS-1 "Scud"". Missile Threat. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
- ^ "The Army Plans to Fire Its Version of the Navy's SM-6 Missile from This Launcher". 13 October 2021.
- ^ "Roketsan - KARA ATMACA Surface-To-Surface Cruise Missile".
- ^ a b c d "Worldwide Ballistic Missile Inventories | Arms Control Association". www.armscontrol.org. Archived from the original on 2024-12-25. Retrieved 2025-01-26.
