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These missiles have a range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph).[37] They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb)[38] and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead. Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems. The earliest designs of cruise missile submarines had to surface to launch their missiles, while later designs could do so underwater via dedicated vertical launching system (VLS) tubes. A cruise missile is a subsonic guided missile that uses a turbojet, a smaller version of the jet engines that power today’s airplanes, to reach its targets. Cruise missiles often have small, stubby wings to allow them to bank and turn, following an invisible flight path in the sky.
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The DSMAC system uses a camera and an image correlator to find the target, and is especially useful if the target is moving. A cruise missile can also be equipped with thermal imaging or illumination sensors (as used in smart bombs). Cruise missiles come in a number of variations (see the links at the end of the article for more information) and can be launched from submarines, destroyers or aircraft. In 2017, North Korea unexpectedly staged a test launch of what was then a new ballistic missile, the Pukguksong-2.
Soviet Navy/Russian Navy
This also frustrated enemy fighters, whose nose-mounted radars found it difficult to pick out a cruise missile against the clutter created by the ground below. While cruise missiles were too slow to become first-strike weapons, they were effective for retaliatory strikes against heavily defended airspace. The United States, Russia, North Korea, India, Iran, South Korea, Israel, France, China and Pakistan have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles.
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In retaliation, President Bill Clinton ordered the firing of 23 cruise missiles at Iraqi intelligence headquarters. In 1998, President Bill Clinton ordered a cruise missile strike against the El Shifa Pharmaceutical Industries plant in Sudan, under the assumption that it was a chemical weapons plant. Also in 1998, Clinton ordered troops to fire cruise missiles at Osama bin Laden in the Khost province of Afghanistan.
Ballistic missiles are broadly categorized into four groups based on their range:
A cruise missile submarine is a submarine that carries and launches cruise missiles (SLCMs consisting of land-attack cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles) as its primary armament. While ballistic missiles were the preferred weapons for land targets, heavy nuclear and conventional weapon tipped cruise missiles were seen by the USSR as a primary weapon to destroy United States naval carrier battle groups. In 1944, during World War II, Germany deployed the first operational cruise missiles. The V-1, often called a flying bomb, contained a gyroscope guidance system and was propelled by a simple pulsejet engine, the sound of which gave it the nickname of "buzz bomb" or "doodlebug". Accuracy was sufficient only for use against very large targets (the general area of a city), while the range of 250 km was significantly lower than that of a bomber carrying the same payload.
Cruise missiles can be launched by airplanes, submarines, ships, or from launching vehicles on land. The IGS is a standard acceleration-based system that can roughly keep track of where the missile is located based on the accelerations it detects in the missile's motion (click here for a good introduction). Tercom uses an on-board 3-D database of the terrain the missile will be flying over. The Tercom system "sees" the terrain it is flying over using its radar system and matches this to the 3-D map stored in memory. The Tercom system is responsible for a cruise missile's ability to "hug the ground" during flight.
Cruise missiles hold a pivotal role across all military branches, reshaping the landscape of modern warfare. Their effective utilization in contemporary conflicts has the potential to sway the outcome without resorting to nuclear options. Terminal guidance can also involve TV guidance, where an operator employs a nose-mounted camera to identify the target and manually guide the missile visually. This dynamic approach allows operators to abort the strike if anomalies are detected, underscoring the human element in precision warfare.
Efficiency in modern warfare
Tomahawk cruise missiles during the Persian Gulf War has heightened interest in cruise missile acquisition in many countries. And the extent to which Biden’s national security team supports conventional hypersonic cruise missiles is not yet apparent. Part of the broader appeal of hypersonic weapons to nations like Russia, China, and the United States is that the speed and trajectories of the missiles make them harder to detect than ICBMs. The ballistic arc of ICBMs means the launch is visible to radar while it is still ascending, once it clears the horizon line.
Launch systems
State media said North Korea’s missile administration on Friday conducted a ‘power test’ for the warhead designed for the Hwasal-1 Ra-3 strategic cruise missile and a test-launch of the Pyoljji-1-2 anti-aircraft missile. Ground-launched cruise missiles (GLCM) also are making a comeback since the demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in August 2019. That 31-year-old pact compelled the Air Force to retire an arsenal of deployed BGM-109G Gryphon missiles. Last November, the Army selected the BGM-109 Tomahawk to form half of a new Mid-Range Capability with a ground-launched version of the Raytheon SM-6 in 2023. All three conventional hypersonic cruise missiles are expected to enter service years before the Air Force fields the nuclear LRSO, but the program is making progress. The Air Force selected Raytheon over Lockheed to continue development of the LRSO, which will be armed with an upgraded W80-4 warhead.
It’s hard to overstate the importance of this one change in a war over Taiwan. “In games where the JASSM-ER has maritime strike capabilities, the abundance of U.S. munitions made U.S. strategy an almost uncomplicated exercise,” the CSIS experts wrote. The Block Va variants will be named Maritime Strike and have the capability of hitting a moving target.
If the two match, the missile is on the right flight path; if they don’t match, the missile adjusts course. Programming TERCOM for a long-range mission was a notoriously time-consuming process, and had to be done at a computer terminal. As advanced cruise missiles approach their target, remote operators can use a camera in the nose of the missile to see what the missile sees.
Cruise missiles have an 8.5-foot (2.61-meter) wingspan, are powered by turbofan engines and can fly 500 to 1,000 miles (805 to 1,610 km) depending on the configuration. After the war, the U.S., with the help of captured German technology and scientists, built its own arsenal of even more powerful intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) capable of unleashing nuclear destruction upon targets on the other side of the world. The Soviet Union and China built ICBMs as well, setting up a world where a nuclear war was deterred by the prospect of mutual assured destruction. Things got real, though, on Jan. 7, 2020, when Iran launched more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two Iraqi military bases housing U.S. troops. It was Iran's retaliation for the U.S. drone strike that killed Iran Gen. Qassem Soleimani on Jan. 3, 2020.
One weapon that establishes a military power in a completely different category from the rest is the cruise missile. Originally designed to deliver nuclear weapons at long distances, it’s become the go-to weapon for conventional precision strikes, and is currently front and center in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In 1995, the US agreed to sell 65 Tomahawks to the UK for torpedo-launch from their nuclear attack submarines. The UK subsequently bought 20 more Block III to replenish stocks.[82] The Royal Navy has since fired Tomahawks during the 2000s Afghanistan War, in Operation Telic as the British contribution to the 2003 Iraq War, and during Operation Ellamy in Libya in 2011. After achieving flight, the missile's wings are unfolded for lift, the airscoop is exposed and the turbofan engine is employed for cruise flight.
The Block II TLAM-A missile achieved initial operating capability in 1984. The missile was first deployed in combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Among the diverse guidance methods, Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation (DSMAC) relies on an onboard camera to identify the target. This image is then compared to a stored reference image using an image correlator, accentuating the missile’s ability to refine target identification during the terminal phase.
The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM-86 and AGM-129 ACM. Both missile types are configurable for either conventional or nuclear warheads. Two new candidates for a future hypersonic cruise missile are currently in testing, while a third has entered the design phase. A subsonic replacement for a nuclear version of the Boeing AGM-86 air-launched cruise missile is in development. Another replacement for the Navy’s RGM/UGM-109 Tomahawk is on the drawing board and may be adapted for a nuclear role as well.
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