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Exocet missile in flight
A missile (see also pronunciation differences) is a self-propelled, explosive projectile used as a weapon towards a target.

Etymology

The word missile comes from the Latin verb mittere, literally meaning "to send".

Guided missiles

Missiles that have the ability to maneuver through the air can be guided, and are known as guided missiles. These have three key system components: A tracking system locates the missile's target. This can be either a human gunner aiming a sight on the target (remotely from the missile) or an automatic tracker. Automatic trackers use radiation emanating from the target or emitted from the launch platform and reflecting back to it from the target. Passive automatic trackers use the target's inherent radiation, usually heat or light, but missiles designed to attack Command & Control posts, aircraft or guided missiles may look for radio waves. Active automatic trackers rely on the target being illuminated by radiation. The target can be "painted" with light (sometimes infrared and/or laser) or radio waves (radar) which can be detected by the missile. The radiation for the painting can originate in the missile itself or may come from a remote station (for example, a hilltop gunner can illuminate a target with a laser device and this can be used to direct an air launched guided missile).

A guidance system takes data from the missile's tracking system and flight system and computes a flight path for the missile designed to intercept the target. It produces commands for the flight system.

The flight system causes the missile to maneuver. There are two main systems: vectored thrust (for missiles that are powered throughout the guidance phase of their flight) and aerodynamic maneuvering (wings, fins, canards, etc).

There are some similarities between guided missiles and guided bombs. A guided bomb, dropped from an aircraft, is unpowered and uses aerodynamic fins for forward horizontal maneuvering while falling vertically.

See also

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Types of missile
A projectile is any object propelled through space by the exertion of a force. In a general sense, even a football or baseball may be considered a projectile. It can cause damage (injury, property damage) to a person, animal or object it hits, depending on factors including size,
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Latin}}} 
Official status
Official language of: Vatican City
Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
Roman Catholic Church
Language codes
ISO 639-1: la
ISO 639-2: lat
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For the weapon, see .


Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.

Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of considered and quality releases
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This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
You can assist by [ editing it] now. A how-to guide is available, as is general .
This article has been tagged since May 2007.
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Electromagnetic (EM) radiation is a self-propagating wave in space with electric and magnetic components. These components oscillate at right angles to each other and to the direction of propagation, and are in phase with each other.
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“Command and control” redirects here. For the political term, see Command and Control (government).
“Command and control” redirects here.

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Infrared (IR) radiation is electromagnetic radiation of a wavelength longer than that of visible light, but shorter than that of radio waves. The name means "below red" (from the Latin infra, "below"), red being the color of visible light with the longest wavelength.
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laser is a mechanical device that produces coherent radiation. The term "laser" is an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
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Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain.
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laser is a mechanical device that produces coherent radiation. The term "laser" is an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation.
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A guidance system is a device or group of devices used to navigate a ship, aircraft, missile, rocket, satellite, or other craft. Typically, this refers to a system that navigates without direct or continuous human control.
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GBU is also a common shorthand form of the film The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
Precision-guided munitions (smart munitions, smart bombs, guided bomb units or GBUs
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Below is a list of (links to pages on) missiles, sorted alphabetically by name. See also the list of rockets and the list of missiles by nation.

Other lists

Types of missiles:
  • Conventional guided missiles

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This list of missiles by country displays the names of missiles in order of the country where they originate, with the countries listed alphabetically and annotated with their continent (and defence alliance, if applicable).
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This article gives a concise timeline of rocket and missile technology.
  • 300 CE - Rockets are developed by the Chinese using gunpowder. They were used for religious ceremonies celebrating the ancient Chinese Gods as well as for entertainment(i.e. fireworks).

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V-1 (German: Vergeltungswaffe 1) was the first guided missile used in war and the forerunner of today's cruise missile. The V-1 was developed at Peenemünde by the German Luftwaffe during the Second World War.
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Function single stage ballistic missile (area bombing)
Manufacturer Mittelwerk GmbH (development by Army Research Center Peenemünde)
Unit cost 100,000 RM January 1944, 50,000 RM March 1945[1]
Entered service 1944
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First launched in 1953, the American Redstone rocket was a direct descendant of the German V-2. It was used for the first live nuclear missile tests by the United States. It was also known as the Redstone MRBM (medium range ballistic missile).
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Lists of Aircraft | Aircraft manufacturers | Aircraft engines | Aircraft engine manufacturers | Airlines | Air forces | Aircraft weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation
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shoulder-launched missile weapon is a weapon that fires a projectile at a target, yet is small enough to be carried by a single person, and fired while held on one's shoulder.
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Fire-and-forget is a third-generation method of missile guidance. This simply means that the user of such a missile merely has to fire it, and then can forget about it and it will still correctly strike the target.
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air-to-air missile (AAM) is a guided missile fired from an aircraft for the purpose of destroying another aircraft. It is typically powered by one or more rocket motors, usually solid fuelled but sometimes liquid fuelled.
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air-to-surface missile (also, air-to-ground missile, AGM, ASM or ATGM) 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.
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surface-to-air missile (SAM) or ground-to-air missile (GAM) is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft. It is a type of anti-aircraft system.

Land-based SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers.
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A surface-to-surface missile (also, ground-to-ground missile, SSM or GTGM) is a guided projectile launched from a hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or fixed installation or from a ship.
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ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital, ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering a warhead to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by
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intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, is a long-range (greater than 5,500 km or 3,500 miles) ballistic missile typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery, that is, delivering one or more nuclear warheads.
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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
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An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a missile designed to counter ballistic missiles. A ballistic missile is used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory.
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cruise missile is a guided missile which uses a lifting wing and most often a jet propulsion system to allow sustained flight. A cruise missile is, in essence, a flying bomb.
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