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Information about Surface To Air Missiles

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French Air Force Crotale battery
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Bendix Rim-8 Talos surface to air missile of the US Navy


A 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. The smallest SAMs are capable of being carried and launched by a single person. These types of SAM are also referred to as Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (ManPADS). Soviet ManPADS have been exported around the world and can still be found in many of their former client states. Other nations have developed their own ManPADS (see list below).

Land-based SAMs are deployed on mobile launchers, either wheeled or tracked. The tracked vehicles are usually armoured vehicles specifically designed to carry SAMs. Larger SAMs may be deployed in fixed launchers, but can be towed/re-deployed at will.

Ship-based SAMs are in widespread use. Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs (see list below). In fact, naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialise in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga-class cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system or Kirov class cruisers with the S-300PMU Favorit missile system.

Targets for non-ManPAD SAMs will usually be acquired by air-search radar, then tracked before/while a SAM is "locked-on" and then fired. Potential targets, if they are military aircraft will be identified as friend or foe systems before "lock-on".

Development of surface-to-air missiles began in Nazi Germany (hard pressed by Allied air superiority) during late World War II with missiles such as the Wasserfall though no working system was deployed before the war's end.

See also

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Types of missile
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".
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aircraft is a vehicle which is able to fly through the air (or through any other atmosphere). All the human activity which surrounds aircraft is called aviation. (Most rocket vehicles are not aircraft because they are not supported by the surrounding air).
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Anti-aircraft can refer to:
  • Anti-aircraft warfare, any method of engaging military aircraft in combat from the ground.
  • Anti-Aircraft (arcade game), a 1975 video game by Atari Inc..

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warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat . Warships are usually built in a completely different way than merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships.
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Ticonderoga Class may refer to:
  • Ticonderoga class cruiser
  • Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier

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Aegis combat system is an integrated missile guidance system used by the United States Navy. It is both an integrated single ship system and a ship-to-ship network. The Aegis combat system is one of the most advanced and most capable defense systems currently in use.
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Kirov class battlecruisers are some of the largest and most powerful surface warships of the Russian Navy and world. Originally built for the Soviet Navy, in Russia they are usually known by the designation Project 1144 Orlan (meaning Sea eagle).
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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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worldwide view of the subject.
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In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe (IFF) is a crypto identification system designed for command and control.
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This article or section needs copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone and/or spelling.
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This article has been tagged since August 2007.
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Air superiority is the dominance in the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's during a military campaign. It is defined in the NATO Glossary as "That degree of dominance in the air battle of one force over another that permits the conduct of operations by the
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Allied powers:
 Soviet Union
 United States
 United Kingdom
 China
 France
...et al. Axis powers:
 Germany
 Japan
 Italy
...et al.
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Function Surface to air missile
Manufacturer Flak- Versuchskommando Nord, EMW Peenemuende
Unit cost 7,000–10,000 Reichsmark
First flight March 1943
Entered service
General characteristics
Engine
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This is a list of surface-to-air missiles (SAMs).

Radar-guided SAMs

  • Akash Missile - India
  • Arrow - Israel
  • Aster - United Kingdom/France/Italy
  • Bloodhound - United Kingdom
  • Ground launched AMRAAM - NASAMS (AIM-120 AMRAAM AAM) - Norway

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NATO reporting name for SA series surface-to-air missiles, with Soviet designations:
  • SA-1 "Guild" (S-25 Berkut)
  • SA-2 "Guideline" (V-75 Dvina/Volkhov/Desna)
  • SA-3 "Goa" (S-125 Nyeva)
  • SA-4 "Ganef" (9M8 Krug)

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Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defence, is any method of engaging military aircraft in combat from the ground. Various guns and cannons have been used in this role since the first military aircraft were used in World War I, growing in power and accuracy over the years.
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Man-portable air-defense systems (MANPADS) are shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles. They typically use infra-red guidance and can be a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
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The Federation of American Scientists (FAS)[1] is a non-profit organization formed in 1945 by scientists from the Manhattan Project who felt that scientists, engineers and other innovators had an ethical obligation to bring their knowledge and experience to bear
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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".
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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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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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Anti-ship missiles are a missile designed for use against ships. Most anti-ship missiles are of the sea-skimming type and use a combination of inertial guidance and radar homing.
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ASROC (for Anti-Submarine ROCket) is an urgent-attack, all-weather, all sea-conditions anti-submarine missile system, developed by the United States Navy in the 1950s, deployed in the 1960s, updated in the 1990s and currently installed on over 200 surface ships, mostly
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