A US Navy VF-103 Jolly Rogers F-14 Tomcat fighter launchers an AIM-54 Phoenix long-range air-to-air missile. Photo courtesy U.S. Navy Atlantic Fleet. An air-to-air missile (AAM) is a guided missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft... Air-to-air missile (AAM) | An air-to-surface missile (also, air-to-ground missile, ASM or AGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft ( bombers, attack aircraft, fighter aircraft or other kinds) and strike ground targets on land, at sea, or both. They are similar to guided glide bombs but to... Air-to-surface missile (ASM) | A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system. SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers. The smallest SAMs are capable of being carried and launched by a single... Surface-to-air missile (SAM) | Surface-to-surface missile (SSM)
Polish missile wz. 8/K-14 (Scud-B) A ballistic missile is a missile, usually with no wings or fins, with a prescribed course that cannot be altered after the missile has burned its fuel, whereafter its course is governed by the laws of ballistics. In order to cover large... Ballistic missile | A Minuteman III missile soars after a test launch. An intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a long-range ballistic missile using a ballistic trajectory involving a significant ascent and descent, including sub-orbital flight. An ICBM differs little technically from other ballistic missiles such as intermediate-range ballistic missiles... Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) | Submarine-launched ballistic missiles or SLBMs are ballistic missiles delivering nuclear weapons that are launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs) each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to strike a handful of targets. The first successful tests of... Submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) | An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a missile designed to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles: the strategic ballistic missiles used to deliver nuclear weapons or their elements in flight trajectory. ABMs may also be used against chemical or biological payloads. For current US developments, see Missile Defense Agency. For defense against... Anti-ballistic missile (ABM)
A Tomahawk cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. Cruise missiles are, in essence, unmanned aircraft. They are generally designed to carry a large conventional or nuclear warhead many hundreds of miles... Cruise missile | An Anti-ship missile (AShM) is a military missile designed for use against naval surface ships. Most AShMs are of the sea-skimming, subsonic variant, and use a combination of inertial and radar guidance. Countermeasures against AShMs include anti-missile missiles, CIWS, and various decoy systems. List of AShMs Boeing... Anti-ship missile (AShM) | An Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a missile the primary purpose of which is to hit and destroy tanks. An alternative name is Anti-tank guided weapon (ATGW). ATGMs can be guided into the target by several methods, such as laser guiding, laser marking, TV camera, wire-guiding etc... Anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) | Anti-satellite weapons (ASATs) are weapons designed to be used against artificial satellites. The development and design of anti-satellite weapons has followed a number of paths. The initial efforts by the USSR and the USA were using air-launched missiles from the 1950s, from this beginning there were much... Anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) | An anti-radiation missile is a missile which is designed to detect and home in on the emissions of an enemy radar installation. Commonly carried by specialist Wild Weasel aircraft in the SEAD role, the primary purpose of this type of missile is to degrade enemy air defences in the... Anti-radiation missile
A wire-guided missile is a missile guided by signals sent to it via thin wires reeled out during flight. This guidance system is most common for anti-tank missiles, where its ability to be used in areas of limited line-of-sight make it useful, while its limited maximum... Wire-guided missile | Infra-red homing refers to a guidance system which uses the infra-red light emissions of a target to track it. Missiles which use infra-red seeking are often referred to as heat-seekers. Infra-red is just below the visible spectrum of light and is radiated mostly by hot... Infrared guidance | Beam-riding guidance leads a missile to its target by means of radar or a laser beam. It is one of the simplest forms of radar or laser guidance. The main use of this kind of system is to destroy airplanes or tanks. First, an aiming station (possibly mounted in... Beam riding | Laser guidance | 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. There are two major advantages to active radar homing: Because the missile is tracking the target, and the missile is... Active radar guidance | 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. The name refers to the missile itself being a passive detector, while an offboard radar provides a signal for... Semi-active radar guidance