Command guidance is a type of missile guidance where a ground station or aircraft relay signals to a guided missile via radio (or possibly through a wire connecting the missile to the launcher) and tell the missile where to steer in order to intercept its target. Additionally, it is possible to send a command to the missile to detonate, even if the missile itself has a fuze or fuzes. (It may be possible to detonate the missile and destroy or damage the target, even though the missile was not actually going to strike the target, due to the blast radius of the warhead). This article or section should be merged with Guided missile Military missile systems use a variety of methods to guide the missile to its intended target. ... This article or section should be merged with Missile guidance A guided missile is a military rocket that can be directed in flight to change its flight path. ... A warhead is an explosive device used in military conflicts, used to destroy enemy vehicles or buildings. ...

Typically, the system giving the guidance commands is tracking both the target and the missile or missiles via radar. It determines the position and velocity of the target and the position and velocity of the missile and calculates whether their paths will intersect. If not, the guidance system will relay commands to the missile(s), telling them to move their fins in such a way to steer themselves in the direction necessary for them to end up on an interception course with the target. If the target maneuvers, the guidance system can notice this and update the missiles' course continuously to counteract the maneuvering. If the missile passes close to the target, either its own proximity or contact fuze will detonate the warhead, or the guidance system can estimate when the missile will pass near the target and send a detonation signal. This long range radar antenna (approximately 40m (130ft) in diameter) rotates on a track to observe activities near the horizon. ... A proximity fuse (sometimes spelled fuze) is a fuse that is designed to detonate an explosive automatically when close enough to the target to destroy it. ...

On some systems there is a dedicated radio antenna or antennae for communicating with the missile(s). On others, the radar itself is actually able to send coded pulses which the missile can pick up and interpret as guidance commands. Sometimes to aid the tracking station, the missile will contain a radio transmitter, making it easier to track. Also, sometimes there is a dedicated radar antenna on the tracking station for tracking the missile as well as one or more for tracking targets. It is especially these types of systems which may be able to communicate with the missile via the same radar energy it uses for tracking it. A yagi antenna Most simply, an antenna is an electronic component designed to send or receive radio waves. ...

Examples of missiles which use command guidance are:

• Russian: SA-1 'Guild', SA-2 'Guideline', SA-3 'Goa', SA-15 'Gauntlet'

Note that older western missiles tended to prefer using pure semi-active radar homing. The SA-1 Guild is the NATO reporting name for the S-25 Berkut (Russian С-25 Беркут - golden eagle) surface-to-air guided missile, the first operational SAM deployed by the Soviet Union. ... An S-75 missile on camoflaged launcher An S-75 missile in elevated position An North Vietnamese S-75 site An S-75 missile in transit A Fan Song radar (left) and what looks like a Low Blow to the right The SA-2 Guideline is the NATO reporting name... Two S-125 dual missile launcher trailers. ... A 9K330 TELAR. Photo from Field Artillery Magazine. ... Semi-active radar homing, or SARH, is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer range air-to-air and ground-to-air missile systems. ...

Pure command guidance is not normally used in modern SAM systems since it is too inaccurate during the terminal phase (when the missile is about to intercept the target). However, it is still quite practical to use it to guide the missile near the target and then use another more accurate guidance method to actually intercept the target. Almost any type of terminal guidance can be used, but the most common are semi-active radar homing (SARH) or active radar homing. A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. ... Semi-active radar homing, or SARH, is a common type of missile guidance system, perhaps the most common type for longer range air-to-air and ground-to-air missile systems. ... Active radar homing is a type of missile guidance where a guided missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously. ...

Examples of missiles which use command guidance with terminal SARH are: Sarh is a city in Chad, the capital of Moyen-Chari prefecture. ...

• Russian: SA-4 'Ganef', SA-6 'Gainful', SA-11 'Gadfly', SA-17 'Grizzly'

Examples of missiles which use command guidance with terminal active radar homing are: A 2K11 TEL in transit. ... A 3M9 TEL in desert camoflage. ... A 9K37M TEL. Photo by Field Artillery Magazine. ... A 9K38 TELAR. Photo by GulfLINK. The 9K38 Buk-M1-2 (Russian Бук - beech, NATO reporting name SA-17 Grizzly) is the continuation of the series of Russian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) which started with the 3M9 Kub (SA-6 Gainful) and 9K37 Buk SA-11 Gadfly. ... Active radar homing is a type of missile guidance where a guided missile contains a radar transceiver and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target autonomously. ...

• Russian: SA-5 'Gammon'

Track-via-missile is a variation of command guidance, the main difference being that the missile itself sends target tracking information back to the guidance system to aid it in calculating the intercept. This negates much of the accuracy disadvantage of pure command guidance. An S-200 missile on its launcher. ... Track-via-missile (or TVM) refers to a missile guidance technique which combines many of the best features of semi-active radar homing (SARH) and radio command guidance. ...

MCLOS and SACLOS are variations of command guidance. MCLOS (short for Manual Command to Line of Sight) is a method for guiding guided missiles. ... SACLOS (short for Semi-Automatic Command to Line-Of-Sight) is a method of missile guidance. ...