Cruise missile

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United States Tomahawk cruise missile
Taurus KEPD 350 cruise missile of the Luftwaffe

A cruise missile is a guided missile used against terrestrial targets, that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight path at approximately constant speed. Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of travelling at supersonic, high subsonic or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.

History

A Fieseler Fi-103, the German V-1 flying bomb

The idea of an "aerial torpedo" was shown in the British 1909 film The Airship Destroyer in which flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London.[1]

In 1916, the American aviator Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", the Hewitt-Sperry Automatic Airplane, a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and a barometric altitude control. Inspired by the experiments, the United States Army developed a similar flying bomb called the Kettering Bug. Germany had also flown trials with remote-controlled aerial gliders (Torpedogleiter) built by Siemens-Schuckert beginning in 1916.[2]

In the Interwar Period, the United Kingdom developed the Larynx (Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine), which underwent a few flight tests in the 1920s.[3]

In the Soviet Union, Sergei Korolev headed the GIRD-06 cruise missile project from 1932 to 1939, which used a rocket-powered boost-glide bomb design. The 06/III (RP-216) and 06/IV (RP-212) contained gyroscopic guidance systems.[4] The vehicle was designed to boost to 28 km altitude and glide a distance of 280 km, but test flights in 1934 and 1936 only reached an altitude of 500 meters.

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. The main advantages were speed (although not sufficient to outperform contemporary propeller-driven interceptors) and expendability. The production cost of a V-1 was only a small fraction of that of a V-2 supersonic ballistic missile with a similar-sized warhead.[5] Unlike the V-2, the initial deployments of the V-1 required stationary launch ramps which were susceptible to bombardment. Nazi Germany, in 1943, also developed the Mistel composite aircraft program, which can be seen as a rudimentary air-launched cruise missile, where a piloted fighter-type aircraft was mounted atop an unpiloted bomber-sized aircraft that was packed with explosives to be released while approaching the target. Bomber-launched variants of the V-1 saw limited operational service near the end of the war, with the pioneering V-1's design reverse-engineered by the Americans as the Republic-Ford JB-2 cruise missile.

Immediately after the war, the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects, including would-be cruise missiles. All but four were cancelled by 1948, — the Air Materiel Command BANSHEE, the SM-62 Snark, the SM-64 Navaho, and the MGM-1 Matador. The BANSHEE design was similar to Operation Aphrodite; like Aphrodite, it failed, and was cancelled in April 1949.[6] Concurrently, the US Navy's Operation: BUMBLEBEE, was conducted at Topsail Island, North Carolina, from c. 1 June 1946, to 28 July 1948.[7] Operation: BUMBLEBEE produced proof-of-concept technologies that influenced the US military's other missile projects.

During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept, deploying early cruise missiles from land, submarines and aircraft. The main outcome of the United States Navy submarine missile project was the SSM-N-8 Regulus missile, based upon the V-1.

The United States Air Force's first operational surface-to-surface missile was the winged, mobile, nuclear-capable MGM-1 Matador, also similar in concept to the V-1. Deployment overseas began in 1954, first to West Germany and later to the Republic of China (Taiwan) and South Korea. On 7 November 1956, U.S. Air Force deployed Matador units in West Germany, whose missiles were capable of striking targets in the Warsaw Pact, from their fixed day-to-day sites to unannounced dispersed launch locations. This alert was in response to the crisis posed by the Soviet attack on Hungary which suppressed the Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

Between 1957 and 1961 the United States followed an ambitious and well-funded program to develop a nuclear-powered cruise missile, Supersonic Low Altitude Missile (SLAM). It was designed to fly below the enemy's radar at speeds above Mach 3 and carry hydrogen bombs that it would drop along its path over enemy territory. Although the concept was proven sound and the 500 megawatt engine finished a successful test run in 1961, no airworthy device was ever completed. The project was finally abandoned in favor of ICBM development.

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. Large submarines (for example, Echo and Oscar classes) were developed to carry these weapons and shadow United States battle groups at sea, and large bombers (for example, Backfire, Bear, and Blackjack models) were equipped with the weapons in their air-launched cruise missile (ALCM) configuration.

General design

Template:Unreferenced section Cruise missiles generally consist of a guidance system, payload, and aircraft propulsion system, housed in an airframe with small wings and empennage for flight control. Payloads usually consist of a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead. Cruise missiles tend to be propelled by jet engine, with turbofan engines in particular being preferred due to their greater efficiency at low altitude and subsonic speed.

Guidance systems

Template:Main Guidance systems also vary greatly. Low-cost systems use a radar altimeter, barometric altimeter and clock to navigate a digital strip map. More advanced systems use inertial guidance, satellite guidance and terrain contour matching (TERCOM). Use of an automatic target recognition (ATR) algorithm/device in the guidance system increases accuracy of the missile. The Standoff Land Attack Missile features an ATR unit from General Electric.

Categories

Cruise missiles can be categorized by size, speed (subsonic or supersonic), range, and whether launched from land, air, surface ship, or submarine. Often versions of the same missile are produced for different launch platforms; sometimes air- and submarine-launched versions are a little lighter and smaller than land- and ship-launched versions.

Guidance systems can vary across missiles. Some missiles can be fitted with any of a variety of navigation systems (Inertial navigation, TERCOM, or satellite navigation). Larger cruise missiles can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead, while smaller ones carry only conventional warheads.

Hypersonic

Template:Redirect-distinguish A hypersonic speed cruise missile travels at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).

Supersonic

File:Brahmos imds.jpg
BrahMos shown at IMDS 2007.

These missiles travel faster than the speed of sound, usually using ramjet engines. The range is typically 100–500 km, but can be greater. Guidance systems vary.

Examples:

Intercontinental-range supersonic

Long-range subsonic

File:Nirbhay missiles during Republic Day Parade 2018.jpg
India's Nirbhay missiles mounted on a truck-based launcher

The United States, Russia, North Korea, India, Iran, South Korea, Israel, France, China and Pakistan have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles. These missiles have a range of over Template:Convert and fly at about Template:Convert.[28] They typically have a launch weight of about Template:Convert[29] 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. Most recent versions can use satellite navigation.

Examples:

Medium-range subsonic

File:Storm Shadow p1220865.jpg
Storm Shadow (UK/France/Italy)
File:Babur Cruise Missle at Ideas 2008.jpg
A Pakistani Babur cruise missile launcher

These missiles are about the same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category. Guidance systems vary.

Examples:

Short-range subsonic

These are subsonic missiles which weigh around Template:Convert and have a range of up to Template:Convert.Template:Citation needed

File:NSM PICT0001.JPG
A Naval Strike Missile of the Norwegian Navy

Examples:

File:Hsiung Feng II Anti-Ship Missile Display in Chengkungling 20111009a.jpg
Hsiung Feng II Anti-Ship Missile Display in Chengkungling.
File:Hsiung-Feng-2-sketch.svg
Hsiung Feng II
Sea Killer export variant Template:Flagicon
Otomat Mk2 E / Teseo Mk2/E Template:Flagicon 360 km new turbofan

Deployment

File:AGM-129A - 2006 0306 b52 2lg.jpg
AGM-129 ACM being secured on a B-52H bomber

The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high-value targets such as ships, command bunkers, bridges and dams.[39] Modern guidance systems permit accurate attacks.

Template:As of the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the United States naval arsenal. It gives ships and submarines an extremely accurate, long-range, conventional land attack weapon. Each costs about US$1.99 million.[40] Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm. On 7 April 2017, during the Syrian Civil War, U.S. warships fired more than 50 cruise missiles into a Syrian air base in retaliation for a Syrian Sarin gas attack against a rebel stronghold.[41]

The United States Air Force (USAF) deploys an air-launched cruise missile, the AGM-86 ALCM. 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.

The USAF adopted the AGM-86 for its bomber fleet while AGM-109 was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the USAF and Navy. The truck-launched versions, and also the Pershing II and SS-20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles, were later destroyed under the bilateral INF (Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces) treaty with the USSR.

The British Royal Navy (RN) also operates cruise missiles, specifically the U.S.-made Tomahawk, used by the RN's nuclear submarine fleet. UK conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by the RN in 1999, during the Kosovo War (the United States fired cruise missiles in 1991). The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Tornado GR4 aircraft. It is also used by France, where it is known as SCALP EG, and carried by the Armée de l'Air's Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft.

File:BRAHMOS Launcher.JPG
The Indian Army's BrahMos supersonic cruise missiles mounted on Mobile Autonomous Launchers (MAL)

India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos. There are three versions of the Brahmos: ship/land-launched, air-launched and sub-launched. The ship/land-launched version were operational as of late 2007. The Brahmos has the capability to attack targets on land. Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles: the SS-N-12 Sandbox, SS-N-19 Shipwreck, SS-N-22 Sunburn and SS-N-25 Switchblade. Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has made the Babur missile[42] Both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan) have designed several cruise missile variants, such as the well-known C-802, some of which are capable of carrying biological, chemical, nuclear, and conventional warheads.

Nuclear warhead versions

China

Template:See also China has CJ-10 land attack cruise missile which is capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.[43] Additionally, China appears to have tested a hypersonic cruise missile in August 2021, a claim it denies.[44]

France

Template:See also The French Force de Frappe nuclear forces include both land and sea-based bombers with Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP) high speed medium range nuclear cruise missiles. Two models are in use, ASMP and a newer ASMP-Amelioreor Plus (ASMP-A), which was developed in 1999. An estimated 40 to 50 were produced.[45][46]

India

Template:See also India in 2017 successfully flight-tested its indigenous Nirbhay ('Fearless') land-attack cruise missile, which can deliver nuclear warheads to a strike range of 1,000-km.[47] Nirbhay had been flight-tested successfully.[47][48]

Israel

Template:See also The Israel Defense Forces reportedly deploy the medium-range air-launched Popeye Turbo ALCM and the Popeye Turbo SLCM medium-long range cruise missile with nuclear warheads on Dolphin class submarines.Template:Citation needed

Pakistan

Template:See also Pakistan currently has four cruise missile systems: the air-launched Ra'ad and its enhanced version Ra'ad II; the ground and underwater launched Babur;[49][50][51] ship-launched Harbah missile[52] and surface launched Zarb missile.[53] Both, Ra'ad and Babur, can carry nuclear warheads between 10 and 25 kt, and deliver them to targets at a range of Template:Convert and Template:Convert respectively.[54] Babur has been in service with the Pakistan Army since 2010.[55]

Russia

Template:See also

File:3M-54E1.jpg
Export variant of the Kalibr missile

Russia has Kh-55SM cruise missiles, with a range similar to the United States' AGM-129 range of 3000 km, but are able to carry a more powerful warhead of 200 kt. They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an Inertial navigation system. They are air-launched from either Tupolev Tu-95s, Tupolev Tu-22Ms, or Tupolev Tu-160s, each able to carry 16 for the Tu-95, 12 for the Tu-160, and 4 for the Tu-22M. A stealth version of the missile, the Kh-101 is in development. It has similar qualities as the Kh-55, except that its range has been extended to 5,000 km, equipped with a 1,000 kg conventional warhead, and has stealth features which reduces its probability of intercept.[56]

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the most recent cruise missile developed was the Kalibr missile which entered production in the early 1990s and officially inducted into the Russian arsenal in 1994. However, it only saw its combat debut on 7 October 2015, in Syria as a part of the Russian military campaign in Syria. The missile has been used 14 more times in combat operations in Syria since its debut.

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Soviet Union was attempting to develop cruise missiles. In this short time frame, the Soviet Union was working on nearly ten different types of cruise missiles. However, due to resources, most of the initial types of cruise missiles developed by the Soviet Union were Sea-Launched Cruise Missiles or Submarine-Launched Cruise Missiles (SLCMs). The SS-N-1 cruise missile was developed to have different configurations to be fired from a submarine or a ship. However, as the time progressed, the Soviet Union began to work on air launched cruise missiles as well (ALCM). These ACLM missiles were typically delivered via bombers designated as "Blinders" or "Backfire". The missiles in this configuration were called the AS-1, and AS-2 with eventual new variants with more development time. The main purpose of Soviet-based cruise missiles was to have defense and offensive mechanisms against enemy ships; in other words most of the Soviet cruise missiles were anti-ship missiles. the 1980s the Soviet Union had developed an arsenal of cruise missiles nearing 600 platforms which consisted of land, sea, and air delivery systems.[57]

United States

Template:See also

File:Agm-129 acm.jpg
An AGM-129 ACM of the United States Air Force

The United States has deployed nine nuclear cruise missiles at one time or another.

Efficiency in modern warfare

Currently cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece. One consequence of this is that its users face difficult choices in target allocation, to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value. For instance, during the 2001 strikes on Afghanistan the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles, which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon. However, proponents of the cruise missile counter that the weapon can not be blamed for poor target selection and the same argument applies to other types of UAVs: they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account, not to mention the risk of loss of personnel. As demonstrated in Libya in 2011 and prior conflicts, cruise missiles are much more difficult to detect and intercept than other aerial assets (reduced radar cross-section, infrared and visual signature due to smaller size), suiting them to attacks against static air defense systems.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Remote Piloted Aerial Vehicles : The 'Aerial Target' and 'Aerial Torpedo' in Britain. Ctie.monash.edu.au. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  2. ↑ Roger Branfill-Cook, "Torpedo", Seaforth Publishing, Great Britain 2014
  3. ↑ [1.0 The Aerial Torpedo](13 August 2007).
  4. ↑ "Object No. 212", 1936 report in _Tvorcheskoi Nasledie Akedemika Sergeya Pavlovicha Koroleva_
  5. ↑ Both missiles were manufactured under the heavy use of Nazi slave labour.
  6. ↑ The Evolution of the Cruise Missile by Werrell, Kenneth P. see PDF page 92 Template:Webarchive
  7. ↑ Operation BumblebeeTemplate:Circular reference
  8. ↑ Concluída mais uma etapa do projeto de desenvolvimento de um veículo hipersônico. Brazilian Air Force(21 February 2019).
  9. ↑ Brasil pondrá a prueba el 14-X en la Operación Cruzeiro. Infodefensa.com(3 March 2020).
  10. ↑ Russia will refit nuclear powered guided missile cruiser with mach 5 hypersonic 3M22 missiles with 2022 deployment - NextBigFuture.com(21 February 2016).
  11. ↑ Hypersonic version of Brahmos on the way. The Times of India(9 October 2011).
  12. ↑ Archived copy. Retrieved 23 February 2012.
  13. ↑ Janes – Perseus: MBDA's missile of the future? Template:Webarchive
  14. ↑ International Institute for Strategic Studies – IISS. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  15. ↑ New British missile three times as fast as current weapons. Telegraph.co.uk(21 June 2011). Retrieved 8 October 2015.Template:Cbignore
  16. ↑ MBDA Systems.
  17. ↑ PARIS: Perseus set to go on the attack(22 June 2011). Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  18. ↑ DRDO test-fires futuristic missile tech, but its success is in doubt, Philip, Snehesh Alex. ThePrint(2019-06-12). Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  19. ↑ DRDO starts work on 'next-gen' hypersonic weapon. Hindustan Times(2019-10-20). Retrieved 2020-03-23.
  20. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  21. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  22. ↑ SCIFiRE Hypersonics. Royal Australian Air Force(16 July 2021). Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  23. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  24. ↑ Template:Cite press release
  25. ↑ BrahMos air launch completes India's supersonic cruise missile triad: Five things you need to know(23 November 2017).
  26. ↑ Supersonic Stealth Missile. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  27. ↑ Upgraded BrahMos with 500-km range ready: CEO, BrahMos Aerospace. PTI. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
  28. ↑ The Modern Weaponry of the World's Armed Forces{{#if:(Retd.)|, (Retd.)}. Notion Press(2017). ISBN 978-1-946983-79-4
  29. ↑ The Modern Weaponry of the World's Armed Forces{{#if:Chandar|, Chandar}. Notion Press(2017). ISBN 978-1-946983-79-4
  30. ↑ Iran will unveil its new home-made cruise missile Meshkat in the near future. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  31. ↑ Turkey one step closer to develop indigenous cruise missile - Naval Post- Naval News and Information.
  32. ↑ BUSINESS – Turkey aims to increase ballistic missile ranges. Hurriyetdailynews.com. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  33. ↑ TÜBİTAK: Hedefimiz 2 bin 500 kilometre menzilli füze yapmak – Hürriyet EKONOMİ. Hurriyet.com.tr(14 January 2012). Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  34. ↑ Türk Füzesi SOM İçin Geri Sayım Başladı – Haber – TRT Avaz. Trt.net.tr. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  35. ↑ FOTO: Caça F-5M voando com o míssil de cruzeiro MICLA-BR(1 October 2019).
  36. ↑ Ukraine Tests Advanced Subsonic Cruise Missile 'Neptune'. Defense World(31 January 2018).
  37. ↑ Yerli seyir füzesi, 180 kilometreden hedefini vuracak – Hürriyet Gündem. Hurriyet.com.tr. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  38. ↑ Yerli seyir füzesi, 180 kilometreden hedefinin vuracak – Kirpi HABER Cesur | Özgür | Tarafsız Habercilik. Kirpihaber.com. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  39. ↑ Raytheon: Tomahawk Cruise Missile. www.raytheon.com. Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  40. ↑ http://comptroller.defense.gov/Portals/45/documents/defbudget/FY2017/FY2017_Weapons.pdf#page=63 Template:Bare URL PDF
  41. ↑ US missiles blast Syria; Trump demands 'end the slaughter'. AP News(20 April 2021).
  42. ↑ Hatf 7 "Babur".
  43. ↑ China’s Cruise Missile Capabilities: Implications for the Indian Army and Air Force, Bommakanti, Kartik. Observer Research Foundation(December 4, 2020). Retrieved December 18, 2021.
  44. ↑ China Denies Testing Nuclear-Capable Hypersonic Cruise Missile. BBC. Oct. 18, 2021. China denies testing nuclear-capable hypersonic missile. Accessed Oct. 18, 2021
  45. ↑ Missile Defense Project, "Air-Sol Moyenne Portée (ASMP/ ASMP-A)", Missile Threat, Center for Strategic and International Studies, November 30, 2016, last modified June 15, 2018, https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/asmp/.
  46. ↑ James O’Halloran, IHS Jane’s Weapons: Strategic 2015-2016, 2015, (United Kingdom: IHS), 134-135.
  47. ↑ 47.0 47.1 India successfully tests its first nuclear-capable cruise missile. The Times of India(7 November 2017).
  48. ↑ Nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile's test fails for the fourth time. The Times of India(21 December 2016). Retrieved 21 December 2016.
  49. ↑ Hatf 7 "Babur" – Missile Threat. CSIS.org. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  50. ↑ South Asian Strategic Stability and Pakistan's Babur-3 Submarine-Launched Cruise Missile. The Diplomat. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  51. ↑ Pakistan announces cruise missile success. BBC News(2017). Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  52. ↑ Pakistan Tests An Indigenously Developed Anti-Ship Cruise Missile. The Diplomat. Retrieved 2018-01-13.
  53. ↑ Pakistan Navy inducts coastal anti-ship 'Zarb' missile after successful test. DAWN.COM(9 April 2016). Retrieved 2018-01-17.
  54. ↑ Nirbhay: Nuclear-capable Nirbhay cruise missile's test fails for the fourth time | India News - Times of India. The Times of India.
  55. ↑ Pakistan's Babur and Ra'ad Cruise Missiles: Strategic Implications for India. Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  56. ↑ Kh-101 – Russian and Soviet Nuclear Forces. Fas.org. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
  57. ↑ Soviet Cruise Missile Programs. Arms Control Today({Template:Date).
  58. ↑ Cruise missile career comes to a close. U.S. Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base public affairs(24 April 2012). Retrieved 27 December 2012.

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