Guided missile
A guided missile is a self-powered weapon, in the family of precision-guided munitions (PGM) that can alter its flight or ballistic characteristics in order to correct aiming errors and hit a target. Guided missiles are assumed to be independently powered during at least part of its flight, differentiated from guided bombs and artillery-launched guided shells.
Guidance
Missiles, in general, follow one of two guidance paradigms:
- Go onto location in space (GOLIS), where guidance directs the weapon to a specific set of geographical coordinates and whatever is located at those coordinates;
- Go onto target (GOT), in which the weapon recognizes a specific target, which may be moving, and adjusts its course based on sensor input or human commands, in order to hit that target.
A given missile may be command-guided, with it completely under the control of a human operator. It may be partially autonomous, where, for example, the person launches it points it at the target until onboard sensors can take control. It may be "fire and forget" or fully autonomous, such that it needs no human control once it has been give target information.
Guidance sensors
Radar
Semi-active
Active
Electro-optical
Infrared
Anti-radiation and home-on-jam
Intertial
Celestial
GPS
Classification by launcher and target location
There are several ways to classify guided missiles. One of the most basic covers the launching platform and the target location, "location" here being agnostic to GOLIS or GOT. Each one of these types has further subdivisions, such as range, mobility, guidance, payload, etc.
- Note 1: anti-ballistic missiles may actually intercept in space, in the upper atmosphere, or lower atmosphere. For this chart, the types are all considered surface-to-space.
Specialized missile subtypes
Anti-shipping missiles
While anti-shipping missiles are launched by surface, subsurface, or air platforms, their design requirements differ from anti-surface missiles intended for use over land. Their guidance systems must cope with the constantly changing radar return from the ocean, yet be able to recognize a ship surrounded by radar "clutter".
Many anti-shipping missiles fly at extremely low altitude, and are called "sea-skimming". Just as the ocean interferes with the missile's own guidance system, it also interferes with the enemy's warning and fire control radar. A sea-skimming missile will also enter the enemy radar field of view only when close to the target, when there is minimal time to engage it.