How does cruise missile work

Cruise missiles are jet-propelled pilotless aircraft designed to strike distant targets with great accuracy. Traveling at hundreds of miles an hour, cruise missiles use the global positioning system, inertial guidance, optical scenery correlation, and terrain comparing radar to find their targets. Their accuracy makes them especially useful in attacking military targets in urban areas with limited damage to nearby civilian facilities.

Naval interest in cruise missiles during the s and s produced results, but the concept was shelved in favor of the much more promising Polaris ballistic missile program. Improving technology and changing missions in the s revived the earlier idea. The Tomahawk cruise missile joined the fleet in and has played a particularly important role in the Persian Gulf War and in actions since the end of the Cold War.

Click diagram to enlarge. Flight Profile of Tomahawk Missile Tomahawk missiles can be launched from either a standard inch cm torpedo tube or, on newer submarines, a vertical launch tube. Atherton Published Aug 29, PM. The Obama administration is considering what sort of military action to take, if any, against the government of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, which stands accused of using chemical weapons against its own people. The most likely option : a cruise missile strike against assorted military and government sites, like the presidential palace and chemical munitions facilities.

What are cruise missiles? Cruise missiles are fast-moving, guided bombs that soar at a very low trajectory, parallel to the ground. They are distinct from regular non-cruise missiles primarily because they go really far.

They are also distinct from drones, because they do not have on-the-ground pilots—instead, they fly a pre-set path—and you can only use them once. Germany used the first cruise missile in World War II.

Called V-1s, after Vergeltung , the [German word for retribution, they were fired from sites in northern France and aimed at London. The idea behind the V-1, which is the core idea behind all cruise missiles since, is to attack from far away without needing a pilot to control it.

All cruise missiles have an internal guidance system, though the types vary. The Tomahawk cruise missile , which the U. Later versions of the Tomahawk also use GPS, and there are other guidance systems that some cruise missiles use.

Cruise missiles all have basically the same parts : an engine, often a jet with an air intake, propels the missile through the air. Both cruise missiles pictured below were designed to carry nuclear warheads, but most cruise missiles, and all that have actually been used in war, carry conventional, non-nuclear explosives. The front end of a cruise missile usually has a guidance system.

Cruise missiles, with wings and engines, often resemble pilot-less planes. Cruise missiles can be launched by airplanes, submarines, ships, or from launching vehicles on land. Besides the United States, more than 70 nations have cruise missiles. Has the United States used cruise missiles before?

Oh, yeah. This method also gives the operator the option to abort the strike in the final phase if an anomaly is detected. These radar seekers use either passive radar, which detect radar emissions of their target, or active radar, which emit their own radar to detect their target.

Cruise missiles are typically armed with conventional or nuclear warheads, but can also be equipped with chemical or biological warheads. Missile Defense Missile Defense of U. Air Defense Air Defense of U. Cruise Missile Basics What is a cruise missile? Contact info missiledefenseadvocacy. International Cooperation.