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85-457: The Skysweeper was introduced just as surface-to-air missiles were being deployed in the long-range role, replacing earlier anti-aircraft artillery systems. These missiles were very large and slow to react, which left short-range engagements to guns. The Army's existing guns were a motley collection of World War II -era systems that were barely effective then and were considered largely useless against jet-powered aircraft. Missiles replaced all of

170-613: A fuel and oxidizer mixed in select proportions with the grain size and burn chamber determining the rate and time of burn. Larger missiles might use liquid-propellant rockets where propulsion is provided by a single or combination of liquid fuels. A hybrid system uses solid rocket fuel with a liquid oxidizer. Jet engines are generally used in cruise missiles , most commonly of the turbojet type, because of their relative simplicity and low frontal area while turbofans and ramjets can also be theoretically used. Long-range missiles have multiple engine stages and might use similar type or

255-871: A propellant , jet engine or rocket motor . Historically, 'missile' referred to any projectile that is thrown, shot or propelled towards a target; this usage is still recognized today with any unguided jet- or rocket-propelled weapons generally described as rocket artillery . Airborne explosive devices without propulsion are referred to as shells if fired by an artillery piece and bombs if dropped by an aircraft. Missiles are also generally guided towards specific targets termed as guided missiles or guided rockets . Missile systems usually have five system components: targeting , guidance system , flight system, engine , and warhead . Missiles are primarily classified into different types based on firing source and target such as surface-to-surface , air-to-surface , surface-to-air and air-to-air missiles . Rockets were

340-587: A "flak rocket" concept, which led Walter Dornberger to ask Wernher von Braun to prepare a study on a guided missile able to reach between 15,000 and 18,000 m (49,000 and 59,000 ft) altitude. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, and said as much to the director of the T-Amt , Roluf Lucht , in July. The directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and

425-708: A 300 to 600 pounds (140 to 270 kg) warhead for a 30 to 60 percent kill probability. This weapon did not emerge for 16 years, when it entered operation as the RIM-8 Talos . Heavy shipping losses to kamikaze attacks during the Liberation of the Philippines and the Battle of Okinawa provided additional incentive for guided missile development. This led to the British Fairey Stooge and Brakemine efforts, and

510-521: A SAM system in earnest with the opening of the Cold War . Joseph Stalin was worried that Moscow would be subjected to American and British air raids , like those against Berlin , and, in 1951, he demanded that a missile system to counter a 900 bomber raid be built as quickly as possible. This led to the S-25 Berkut system ( NATO reporting name : SA-1 "Guild"), which was designed, developed and deployed in

595-423: A ballistic trajectory. Most anti-tank and anti-ship missiles are part of surface-to-surface missile systems. An anti-satellite weapon (ASAT) is a space weapon designed to incapacitate or destroy satellites for strategic or tactical purposes. Although no ASAT system has yet been utilized in warfare , a few countries have successfully shot down their own satellites to demonstrate their ASAT capabilities in

680-407: A conventional war. Once a major group unto itself, medium-range designs have seen less development since the 1990s, as the focus has changed to unconventional warfare. Developments have also been made in onboard maneuverability. Israel's David's Sling Stunner missile is designed to intercept the newest generation of tactical ballistic missiles at low altitude. The multi-stage interceptor consists of

765-666: A degree, leading to the introduction of the FIM-43 Redeye , SA-7 Grail and Blowpipe . Rapid improvement in the 1980s led to second generation designs, like the FIM-92 Stinger , 9K34 Strela-3 (SA-14), Igla-1 and Starstreak , with dramatically improved performance. By the 1990s to the 2010s, the Chinese had developed designs drawing influence from these, notably the FN-6 and the QW series . Through

850-482: A different altitude and speed requirement. High-altitude targets require very large guns to get the needed power into the shell to reach those altitudes, but at the same time have the advantage of not needing to move very fast because at that range the change in angle of the target was small—consider the seemingly slow motion of an airliner at cruise altitude. At very low altitudes there were only seconds in which to react when spotting an aircraft over local terrain, so

935-422: A hand-swung weapon was the only possibility, no matter how inaccurate. The short ranges meant that accuracy was not needed, nor was a large gun needed to cover the range. This left an intermediate altitude at which a small gun could not be used because the range to the aircraft was too far, and a larger gun could not be used because the targets were moving too fast. During World War II this niche had been covered by

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1020-461: A head-on approach at low speeds comparable to manned aircraft. These designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below. These included Wasserfall and Rheintochter. Both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on

1105-675: A higher standoff distance engaging targets from far away and out of range of low range air defenses. A surface-to-air missile (SAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft , other missiles or flying objects. It is a type of anti-aircraft system and missiles have replaced most other forms of anti-aircraft weapons due to the increased range and accuracy. Anti-aircraft guns are being used only for specialized close-in firing roles. Missiles can be mounted in clusters on vehicles or towed on trailers and can be hand operated by infantry. SAMs frequently use solid-propellants and may be guided by radar or infrared sensors or by

1190-689: A human operator may operate it manually or a support or launch system will transmit commands by using either optic fiber or radio to guide the missile. The flight system uses the data from the targeting or guidance system to maneuver the missile in flight which might be accomplished using vectored thrust of engines or aerodynamic maneuvering using flight control surfaces such as wings , fins and canards . Missiles are powered by propellants igniting to produce thrust and might employ types of rocket or jet engines . Rockets might be fueled by solid-propellants which are comparatively easier to maintain and enables faster deployment. These propellants contain

1275-565: A human operator using optical tracking. A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea and strike targets on land. They may be fired from hand-held or vehicle mounted devices, from fixed installations or from a ship. They are often powered by a rocket engine or sometimes fired by an explosive charge, since the launching platform is typically stationary or moving slowly. They usually have fins and/or wings for lift and stability, although hyper-velocity or short-ranged missiles may use body lift or fly

1360-522: A layered defence. This evolution of design increasingly pushed gun-based systems into the shortest-range roles. The American Nike Ajax was the first operational SAM system, and the Soviet Union's S-75 Dvina was the most-produced SAM system. Widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 and MBDA Aster Missile naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like

1445-415: A limited strike in a smaller area and might carry conventional or nuclear warheads. Strategic missiles are long-range weapons used to target beyond the immediate vicinity and are mostly designed to carry nuclear warheads though other warheads can also be fitted. Strategic weapons are often classified into cruise and ballistic missiles . Ballistic missiles are powered by rockets during launch and follow

1530-437: A mix of engine types. Some missiles may have additional propulsion from another source at launch such as a catapult , cannon or tank gun . Missiles have one or more explosive warheads , although other weapon types may also be used. The warheads of a missile provide its primary destructive power which might cause secondary destruction due to the kinetic energy of the weapon and unused fuel. Warheads are most commonly of

1615-439: A part of their multi-layered air defence. SAM systems generally fall into two broad groups based on their guidance systems, those using radar and those using some other means. Longer range missiles generally use radar for early detection and guidance. Early SAM systems generally used tracking radars and fed guidance information to the missile using radio control concepts, referred to in the field as command guidance . Through

1700-488: A rush program. Early units entered operational service on 7 May 1955, and the entire system ringing Moscow was completely activated by June 1956. The system failed, however, to detect, track, and intercept the only overflight of the Soviet capital Moscow by a U-2 reconnaissance plane on July 5, 1956. The S-25 was a static system, but efforts were also put into a smaller design that would be much more mobile. This emerged in 1957 as

1785-458: A separate tracking radar for attack. Short range systems are more likely to be entirely visual for detection. Hybrid systems are also common. The MIM-72 Chaparral was fired optically, but normally operated with a short range early warning radar that displayed targets to the operator. This radar, the FAAR , was taken into the field with a Gama Goat and set up behind the lines. Information was passed to

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1870-518: A single radar screen. Development of all these systems was carried out at the same time, and the war ended before any of them was ready for combat use. The infighting between various groups in the military also delayed development. Some extreme fighter designs, like the Komet and Natter , also overlapped with SAMs in their intended uses. Albert Speer was especially supportive of missile development. In his opinion, had they been consistently developed from

1955-409: A single soldier, to larger tripod-mounted or vehicle and aircraft mounted missile systems. Earlier man-portable anti-tank weapons like anti-tank rifles and magnetic anti-tank mines had a short range but sophisticated antitank missiles can be directed to a longer target by several different guidance systems, including laser guiding, television camera, or wire guiding . An air-to-air missile (AAM)

2040-584: A solid-fuel, rocket motor booster, followed by an asymmetrical kill vehicle with advanced steering for super-maneuverability during the kill-stage. A three-pulse motor provides additional acceleration and maneuverability during the terminal phase. MANPAD systems first developed in the 1960s and proved themselves in battle during the 1970s. MANPADS normally have ranges on the order of 3 km (1.9 mi) and are effective against attack helicopters and aircraft making ground attacks. Against fixed wing aircraft, they can be very effective, forcing them to fly outside

2125-516: A trajectory that arches upwards before descending to reach its intended target while cruise missiles are continuously powered by jet engines and travel at a flatter trajectory. A ballistic missile is powered by single or multiple rockets in stages initially before following an unpowered trajectory that arches upwards before descending to reach its intended target. It can carry both nuclear and conventional warheads. A ballistic missile might reach supersonic or hypersonic speed and often travel out of

2210-508: A variation of the SARH technique, but based on laser illumination instead of radar. These have the advantage of being small and very fast acting, as well as highly accurate. A few older designs use purely optical tracking and command guidance, perhaps the best known example of this is the British Rapier system, which was initially an all-optical system with high accuracy. All SAM systems from

2295-399: Is a standoff anti-submarine weapon variant of anti-ship missiles used to deliver an explosive warhead aimed directly at a submarine , a depth charge , or a homing torpedo . An anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is a guided missile primarily designed to hit and destroy heavily armored military vehicles . ATGMs range in size from shoulder-launched weapons, which can be transported by

2380-591: Is a critical factor for its effectiveness. The missile guidance system accomplishes this by four steps: tracking the target, computing the directions using tracking information, directing the computed inputs to steering control and steering the missile by directing inputs to motors or flight control surfaces. The guidance system consists of three sections: launch, mid-course and terminal with same or different systems employed across sections. The guidance and homing systems are generally classified broadly into active , semi-active and passive . In active homing systems,

2465-523: Is a missile fired from a fighter aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. AAMs are typically powered by one or more rocket motors , usually solid fueled but sometimes liquid fueled . A radar or heat emission based homing system is generally used and sometimes can use a combination. Short range missiles used to engage opposing aircraft at ranges of less than 16 km often use infrared guidance while long range missiles mostly rely upon radar guidance. An air-to-surface missile (ASM)

2550-496: Is a missile fired from an attack aircraft , strike fighter or an attack helicopter for the purpose of destroying land based targets. Missiles are typically guided and unguided glide bombs not considered missiles. The most common propulsion systems are rocket motor for short range and jet engines for long-range but ramjets are also used. Missile guidance is typically via laser , infrared homing, optical or satellite . Air-to-surface missiles for ground attack by aircraft provide

2635-556: Is due to improved rocket fuels and ever-smaller electronics in the guidance systems. Some very long-range systems remain, notably the Russian S-400 , which has a range of 400 km (250 mi). Medium-range designs, like the Rapier and 2K12 Kub , are specifically designed to be highly mobile with very fast, or zero, setup times. Many of these designs were mounted on armoured vehicles, allowing them to keep pace with mobile operations in

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2720-609: Is expected that they would be more widely used against sea skimming missiles rather than aircraft . Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs, and naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialize in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga -class cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system or Kirov -class cruisers with the S-300F Fort missile system. Modern Warships may carry all three types (from long-range to short-range) of SAMs as

2805-567: Is often self-guided. It flies at lower speeds (often subsonic or supersonic ) and close to the surface of the Earth, which expends more fuel but makes it difficult to detect. Missiles might be also be classified basis launch platform and target into surface-to-air , surface-to-surface , air-to-air , air-to-surface , anti-ship and anti-tank . An anti-ship missile (AShM) is designed for use against large boats and ships such as destroyers and aircraft carriers . Most anti-ship missiles are of

2890-511: The Boeing B-17 , which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights , an average of 2,805 rounds had to be fired per bomber destroyed. Bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases the cost of the system, and (generally) slows the rate of fire. Faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like

2975-560: The Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234 , flak would be essentially useless. This potential was already obvious by 1942, when Walther von Axthelm outlined the growing problems with flak defences that he predicted would soon be dealing with "aircraft speeds and flight altitudes [that] will gradually reach 1,000 km/h (620 mph) and between 10,000–15,000 m (33,000–49,000 ft)." This

3060-619: The Bofors 40 mm and similar weapons, but against modern jet-powered aircraft these were effectively useless because they simply didn't have the speed and weight of fire to be effective against targets that would be within range for only seconds. This led to the need for a new gun to address this intermediate-range role, and the Army defined this to be a weapon able to defeat aircraft flying at 1,000 mph (1,600 km/h) at altitudes up to 20,000 feet (6 km). The Sperry Gyroscope Company developed

3145-504: The Chaparral via a data link . Likewise, the UK's Rapier system included a simple radar that displayed the rough direction of a target on a series of lamps arranged in a circle. The missile operator would point his telescope in that rough direction and then hunt for the target visually. Missile A missile is an airborne ranged weapon capable of self-propelled flight aided usually by

3230-501: The Earth's atmosphere before re-entry. It usually has three stages of flight: Ballistic missiles are categorized based on range as: A cruise missile is a guided missile that remains in the atmosphere and flies the major portion of its flight at a constant speed. It is designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision and are propelled by jet engines. A cruise missile can be launched from multiple platforms and

3315-534: The Napoleonic Wars . In the early 20th century, American Robert Goddard and German Hermann Oberth developed early rockets propelled by jet engines. In the 1920s, Soviet Union developed solid fuel rockets at the Gas Dynamics Laboratory . Later, the first missiles to be used operationally were a series of rocket based missiles developed by Nazi Germany during World War II including

3400-611: The Nike Hercules , the first nuclear-armed SAM. The U.S. Army Air Forces had also considered collision-course weapons (like the German radio-controlled concepts) and launched Project Thumper in 1946. This was merged with another project, Wizard, and emerged as the CIM-10 Bomarc in 1959. The Bomarc had a range of over 500 km, but it was quite expensive and somewhat unreliable. Development of Oerlikon 's RSD 58 started in 1947, and

3485-572: The Sea Slug . The Vietnam War was the first modern war in which guided antiaircraft missiles seriously challenged highly advanced supersonic jet aircraft. It would also be the first and only time that the latest and most modern air defense technologies of the Soviet Union and the most modern jet fighter planes and bombers of the United States confronted each other in combat (if one does not count

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3570-448: The Stinger and 9K38 Igla . The first known idea for a guided surface-to-air missile was in 1925, when a beam riding system was proposed whereby a rocket would follow a searchlight beam onto a target. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rocket's four tail fins, with the cells facing backwards. When one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in

3655-452: The U.S. Navy 's SAM-N-2 Lark . The Lark ran into considerable difficulty and it never entered operational use. The end of the war led to the British efforts being used strictly for research and development throughout their lifetime. In the immediate post-war era, SAM developments were under way around the world, with several of these entering service in the early- and mid-1950s. Coming to

3740-508: The V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket which used mechanical autopilot to keep the missile flying along a pre-chosen route. Less well known were a series of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles, typically based on a simple radio control ( command guidance ) system directed by the operator. However, these early systems in World War ;II were only built in small numbers. After World War II,

3825-540: The high explosive type, often employing shaped charges to exploit the accuracy of a guided weapon to destroy hardened targets. Warhead might carry conventional , incendiary , nuclear , chemical , biological or radiological weapons . Missiles can be classified into categories by various parameters such as type, launch platform and target, range, propulsion and guidance system. Missiles are generally categorized into strategic or tactical missile systems. Tactical missile systems are short-range systems used to carry out

3910-561: The sea skimming variety, and many use a combination of inertial guidance and active radar homing . A large number of other anti-ship missiles use infrared homing to follow the heat that is emitted by a ship; it is also possible for anti-ship missiles to be guided by radio command all the way. Many anti-ship missiles can be launched from a variety of weapons systems including surface warships , submarines , fighter aircraft , maritime patrol aircraft , helicopters , shore batteries , land vehicles and by infantry . Anti-submarine missile

3995-399: The 1940s and 1950s led to operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for close-range work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s, to modern systems that are man-portable. Shipborne systems followed the evolution of land-based models, starting with long-range weapons and steadily evolving toward smaller designs to provide

4080-489: The 1960s, the semi-active radar homing (SARH) concept became much more common. In SARH, the reflections of the tracking radar's broadcasts are picked up by a receiver in the missile, which homes in on this signal. SARH has the advantage of leaving most of the equipment on the ground, while also eliminating the need for the ground station to communicate with the missile after launch. Smaller missiles, especially MANPADS, generally use infrared homing guidance systems. These have

4165-749: The NE Corridor from Boston to District of Columbia and in Washington State. In 1957, ARAACOM was renamed to US Army Air Defense Command (USARADCOM, ARADCOM in 1961) and, ARAACOM started to dramatically replace gun sites with fewer missile sites ( ARADCOM ended in 1975 ). By the end of 1957 Skysweeper battalions remained at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan , to protect the Soo Locks (one battalion), Savannah River Site (two), and one 90mm and two Skysweeper battalions at Thule Air Base , Greenland (all were removed by 1959). The last overseas Skysweeper were deactivated in

4250-546: The U.S near targets that would have to be attacked by low-altitude aircraft. During the 1950s the Army formed the Army Anti-Aircraft Command (ARAACOM) to operate batteries of anti-aircraft guns and missiles. Most ARAACOM deployments were around cities and used the 90 mm and 120 mm guns, as well as the Nike Ajax missile defense. CONUS had 896 120mm and 75mm Sky Sweepers in service in 1953. Most were along

4335-663: The Yom Kippur War wherein IAF was challenged by Syrian SA-3s). The USAF responded to this threat with increasingly effective means. Early efforts to directly attack the missiles sites as part of Operation Spring High and Operation Iron Hand were generally unsuccessful, but the introduction of Wild Weasel aircraft carrying Shrike missiles and the Standard ARM missile changed the situation dramatically. Feint and counterfeint followed as each side introduced new tactics to try to gain

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4420-525: The advantage of being "fire-and-forget", once launched they will home on the target on their own with no external signals needed. In comparison, SARH systems require the tracking radar to illuminate the target, which may require them to be exposed through the attack. Systems combining an infrared seeker as a terminal guidance system on a missile using SARH are also known, like the MIM-46 Mauler , but these are generally rare. Some newer short-range systems use

4505-945: The advent of the Cold War and development of nuclear weapons necessitated faster, accurate and versatile missiles with longer range and missile development was pursued by multiple countries. Various attempts have been made to control the spread of long range missiles capable of carrying weapons of mass destruction , such as the Missile Technology Control Regime (1987) and the International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (2002). These were voluntary and not international treaties . Though not legally binding, more than 140 countries have been part of these agreements, and provide prior information on missile programs, expected launches, and tests. The gradual introduction of missile launched hypersonic glide vehicles since 2019, anti-satellite missiles , and

4590-461: The bomber remaining outside the range of the ship's antiaircraft guns , and the missiles themselves were too small and fast to be attacked effectively. To combat this threat, the U.S. Navy launched Operation Bumblebee to develop a ramjet-powered missile to destroy the launching aircraft at long range. The initial performance goal was to target an intercept at a horizontal range of 10 miles (16 km) and 30,000 feet (9,100 m) altitude, with

4675-639: The box-shaped computer and manual gunsights on the right side, and the T-38 radar unit on the left. The T-38 radar had a range of about 30 km and could track aircraft traveling at up to 700 mph (1100 km/h). The Army publicly announced the Skysweeper system in the Spring of 1953. Skysweeper deployment began in the early 1950s. Skysweeper was also part of the Army Anti-Aircraft Command (ARAACOM) in

4760-426: The deployment of dual use missiles capable of carrying both conventional and nuclear warheads are proliferation concerns. A missile is most often guided by a guidance system though there are missiles that are unguided during some phases of flight. Missile guidance refers to methods of guiding a missile to its intended target. Effective guidance is important because reaching the target position accurately and precisely

4845-520: The effectiveness of North Vietnamese anti-aircraft artillery, which used data from S-75 radar stations However, the U.S states only 205 of those aircraft were lost to North Vietnamese surface-to-air missiles. All of these early systems were "heavyweight" designs with limited mobility and requiring considerable set-up time. However, they were also increasingly effective. By the early 1960s, the deployment of SAMs had rendered high-speed high-altitude flight in combat practically suicidal. The way to avoid this

4930-847: The evolution of SAMs, improvements were also being made to anti-aircraft artillery , but the missiles pushed them into ever shorter-range roles. By the 1980s, the only remaining widespread use was point-defense of airfields and ships, especially against cruise missiles . By the 1990s, even these roles were being encroached on by new MANPADS and similar short-range weapons, like the RIM-116 Rolling Airframe Missile . Surface-to-air missiles are classified by their guidance , mobility, altitude and range . Missiles able to fly longer distances are generally heavier, and therefore less mobile. This leads to three "natural" classes of SAM systems; heavy long-range systems that are fixed or semi-mobile, medium-range vehicle-mounted systems that can fire on

5015-424: The famous S-75 Dvina (SA-2 "Guideline"), a portable system, with very high performance, that remained in operation into the 2000s. The Soviet Union remained at the forefront of SAM development throughout its history; and Russia has followed suit. The early British developments with Stooge and Brakemine were successful, but further development was curtailed in the post-war era. These efforts picked up again with

5100-495: The first example was a Royal Navy system known as the Holman Projector , used as a last-ditch weapon on smaller ships. The Germans also produced a similar short-range weapon known as Fliegerfaust , but it entered operation only on a very limited scale. The performance gap between this weapon and jet fighters of the post-war era was so great that such designs would not be effective. By the 1960s, technology had closed this gap to

5185-458: The first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter , as well as the unguided Taifun which was designed to be launched in waves. In general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and then flown towards them on

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5270-497: The larger weapons, while Skysweeper replaced all the smaller ones. The Skysweeper system was used for a relatively short period of time, from the mid to late 1950s in the US, and into the 1960s and 1970s in some overseas locations. By that time newer missile systems were closing the range gap, and the Army was busy developing new weapons like the MIM-46 Mauler for this role. Anti-aircraft guns naturally fall into several categories, each for

5355-592: The loss of three B-52s and several others damaged in a single mission. Dramatic changes followed, and by the end of the series, missions were carried out with additional chaff, ECM, Iron Hand, and other changes that dramatically changed the score. By the conclusion of the Linebacker II campaign, the shootdown rate of the S-75 against the B-52s was 7.52% (15 B-52s were shot down, 5 B-52s were heavily damaged for 266 missiles) During

5440-443: The mid-1960s, almost all modern armed forces had short-range missiles mounted on trucks or light armour that could move with the armed forces they protected. Examples include the 2K12 Kub (SA-6) and 9K33 Osa (SA-8), MIM-23 Hawk , Rapier , Roland and Crotale . The introduction of sea-skimming missiles in the late 1960s and 1970s led to additional mid- and short-range designs for defence against these targets. The UK's Sea Cat

5525-696: The mid-1970s, being wholly replaced by other more advanced anti-air missile systems. Surface-to-air missile A surface-to-air missile ( SAM ), also known as a ground-to-air missile ( GTAM ) or surface-to-air guided weapon ( SAGW ), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system ; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles. The first attempt at SAM development took place during World War II , but no operational systems were introduced. Further development in

5610-430: The missile carries the equipment needed to transmit the radiation needed to illuminate the target and receive the reflected energy. Once the homing is initiated, the missile directs independently towards the target. In semi-active systems, the source of the radiation is located outside the missile usually in the launch vehicle which might be an aircraft or a ship and the missile will receive the radiation to direct towards

5695-450: The missile's envelope and thereby greatly reducing their effectiveness in ground-attack roles. MANPAD systems are sometimes used with vehicle mounts to improve maneuverability, like the Avenger system. These systems have encroached on the performance niche formerly filled by dedicated mid-range systems. Ship-based anti-aircraft missiles are also considered to be SAMs, although in practice it

5780-595: The move, and short-range man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS). Modern long-range weapons include the MIM-104 Patriot and S-300 systems, which have effective ranges on the order of 150 km (93 mi) and offer relatively good mobility and short unlimbering times. These compare with older systems with similar or less range, like the MIM-14 Nike Hercules or S-75 Dvina , which required fixed sites of considerable size. Much of this performance increase

5865-611: The opening of the Cold War, following the "Stage Plan" of improving UK air defences with new radars, fighters and missiles. Two competing designs were proposed for "Stage 1", based on common radar and control units, and these emerged as the RAF's Bristol Bloodhound in 1958, and the Army's English Electric Thunderbird in 1959. A third design followed the American Bumblebee efforts in terms of role and timeline, and entered service in 1961 as

5950-400: The opposite direction back into the beam. The first historical mention of a concept and design of a surface-to-air missile in which a drawing was presented, was by inventor Gustav Rasmus in 1931, who proposed a design that would home in on the sound of an aircraft's engines. During World War II , efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was generally considered that flak

6035-675: The precursor to modern missiles and the first rockets were used as propulsion systems for arrows as early as the 10th century in China . Usage of rockets as weapons before modern rocketry is attested to in China, Korea , India and Europe . In the 18th century, iron-cased rockets were used in India by the Kingdom of Mysore and Maratha Empire against the British which was developed into Congreve rocket and used in

6120-501: The radar and computer, and development of what would become the Skysweeper started in 1948. A new 75 mm gun, known as the T83E1 or M35 , was developed that had excellent muzzle velocity , along with two ten-round revolver-type magazines and an auto-loader that allowed it to reach 45 rounds/minute—about one third of what the much lighter Bofors had managed. This was mounted on a large square platform with powered traverse, which also mounted

6205-730: The resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. Von Axthelm published his concerns in 1942, and the subject saw serious consideration for the first time; initial development programs for liquid- and solid-fuel rockets became part of the Flak Development Program of 1942. By this point serious studies by the Peenemünde team had been prepared, and several rocket designs had been proposed, including 1940's Feuerlilie , and 1941's Wasserfall and Henschel Hs 117 Schmetterling . None of these projects saw any real development until 1943, when

6290-519: The same conclusions as the Germans regarding flak, the U.S. Army started its Project Nike developments in 1944. Led by Bell Labs , the Nike Ajax was tested in production form in 1952, becoming the first operational SAM system when it was activated in March 1954. Concerns about Ajax's ability to deal with formations of aircraft led to greatly updated version of the same basic design entering service in 1958 as

6375-418: The smallest to the largest generally include identified as friend or foe (IFF) systems to help identify the target before being engaged. While IFF is not as important with MANPADs, as the target is almost always visually identified prior to launch, most modern MANPADs do include it. Long-range systems generally use radar systems for target detection, and depending on the generation of system, may "hand off" to

6460-550: The start, the large scale bomber raids of 1944 would have been impossible. The British developed unguided antiaircraft rockets (operated under the name Z Battery ) close to the start of World War II , but the air superiority usually held by the Allies meant that the demand for similar weapons was not as acute. When several Allied ships were sunk in 1943 by Henschel Hs 293 and Fritz X glide bombs , Allied interest changed. These weapons were released from stand-off distances, with

6545-407: The target, the target might required to be tracked continuously if it is in motion. A guidance system might use INS which consists of a gyroscope and accelerometer or might use satellite guidance (such as GPS ) to track the missile’s position relative to a known target. The missile computers will compute the flight path required to steer the missile towards the target. In command guidance ,

6630-429: The target. As the source is located outside, the launch vehicle needs to continue supporting the missile till it is guided to the intended target. In a passive system, the missile relies solely on the information from the target. The homing system might use light such as infrared , laser or visible light , radio waves or other electromagnetic radiation to illuminate the target. Once the guidance system identifies

6715-455: The upper hand. By the time of Operation Linebacker II in 1972, the Americans had gained critical information about the performance and operations of the S-75 (via Arab S-75 systems captured by Israel), and used these missions as a way to demonstrate the capability of strategic bombers to operate in a SAM saturated environment. Their first missions appeared to demonstrate the exact opposite, with

6800-536: The war, The Soviet Union supplied 7,658 SAMs to North Vietnam, and their defense forces conducted about 5,800 launches, usually in multiples of three. By the war's end, the U.S lost a total of 3,374 aircraft in combat operations. According to the North Vietnamese, 31% were shot down by S-75 missiles (1,046 aircraft, or 5.6 missiles per one kill); 60% were shot down by anti-aircraft guns; and 9% were shot down by MiG fighters. The S-75 missile system significantly improved

6885-477: Was a closely held secret until 1955. Early versions of the missile were available for purchase as early as 1952, but never entered operational service. The RSD 58 used beam riding guidance, which has limited performance against high-speed aircraft, as the missile is unable to "lead" the target to a collision point. Examples were purchased by several nations for testing and training purposes, but no operational sales were made. The Soviet Union began development of

6970-607: Was an early example that was designed specifically to replace the Bofors 40 mm gun on its mount, and became the first operational point-defense SAM. The American RIM-7 Sea Sparrow quickly proliferated into a wide variety of designs fielded by most navies. Many of these are adapted from earlier mobile designs, but the special needs of the naval role has resulted in the continued existence of many custom missiles. As aircraft moved ever lower, and missile performance continued to improve, eventually it became possible to build an effective man-portable anti-aircraft missile. Known as MANPADS ,

7055-415: Was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a flak shell is fairly small, and the chance of delivering a "hit" is essentially a fixed percentage per round. In order to attack a target, guns fire continually while the aircraft are in range in order to launch as many shells as possible, increasing the chance that one of these will end up within the lethal range. Against

7140-630: Was seen generally; in November 1943 the Director of Gunnery Division of the Royal Navy concluded that guns would be useless against jets, stating "No projectile of which control is lost when it leaves the ship can be of any use to us in this matter." The first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. In February, Friederich Halder proposed

7225-520: Was to fly lower, below the line-of-sight of missile's radar systems. This demanded very different aircraft, like the F-111 , TSR-2 , and Panavia Tornado . Consequently, SAMs evolved rapidly in the 1960s. As their targets were now being forced to fly lower due to the presence of the larger missiles, engagements would necessarily be at short ranges, and occur quickly. Shorter ranges meant the missiles could be much smaller, which aided them in terms of mobility. By

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