Ballistic missile

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Image:Rakieta wz8K-14 SCUD RB.jpg A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a prescribed course that cannot be significantly altered after the missile has burned its fuel (i.e. its course is governed by the laws of ballistics). In order to cover large distances, ballistic missiles are usually launched very high into the air or in space, in a sub-orbital spaceflight; for intercontinental missiles the altitude halfway is ca. 1200 km. When in space and no more thrust is provided, the missiles are in freefall.

Many advanced ballistic missiles have several rocket stages and their course can be slightly adjusted from one stage to the next. They can be launched from fixed sites or mobile launchers, including vehicles (Transporter Erector Launchers, TELs), aircraft, ships and submarines.

The first ballistic missile was the V-2 rocket, developed by Nazi Germany in the 1940s, which was successfully launched for the first time on October 3, 1942 and used for the first time in operation on September 8, 1944.

1 Missile types
2 Specific missiles
3 Ballistic missile submarines
4 See also
5 External links

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Missile types

Ballistic missiles can vary widely in range and use, and are often divided into categories based on range. The U.S. distinguishes[1]:

Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM): range less than 1000 km; the three types of ballistic missile ever used in an attack were all in this category and had conventional explosives only:
Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM): range between 1000 and 2500 km
Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM): range between 2500 and 3500 km
Sub-continental ballistic missile (SCBM): range between ? and ? km
Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM): range greater than 3500 km, broken down into:
- Limited range intercontinental ballistic missile (LRICBM): range between 3500 and 8000 km
- Full range intercontinental ballistic missile (FRICBM): range between 8000 and 12,000 km
Submarine-launched ballistic missile

Medium to short range missiles are often called tactical or theatre ballistic missiles (TBM). Long and medium range ballistic missiles are generally designed to deliver nuclear warheads because their payload is too limited for conventional explosives to be efficient.

Using a missile with a considerably longer range than the distance from launch site to target can make sense: it can reach a higher altitude and come down with a higher speed, making defense more difficult. For example, a missile with a range of 3000 km fired at a target that is only 500 km away could arrive at its target after having reached an altitude of about 1200 km —roughly the height reached by ICBMs. Like them, it would arrive at a speed of typically more than 6 km/s (Mach 17).

The flight phases are like those for ICBMs, except that for a range less than ca. 350 km there is no exoatmospheric phase.

Image:Agni-II missile (Republic Day Parade 2004).jpeg Image:Shaheen II defense day.jpg

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