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 accuracy; that is, small circular error probability. Modern cruise missiles are capable of travelling at supersonic or high subsonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory. They are distinct from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in several ways: the cruise missile is a single use weapon which is always sacrificed in the mission; it is not intended to provide aerial reconnaissance; and the warhead is integrated directly into the hull of the vehicle and cannot be separated. There is considerable overlap between cruise missiles and anti-ship missiles.

The first cruise missiles to be deployed were the Nazi German V-1 flying bomb of World War II. Advances in transistor and computer technology have contributed to self-correcting avionic and aeronautical designs that allow missiles to be guided in flight, as opposed to only at launch. These advances developed into guided missiles and guided bombs, and later into the modern cruise missile.


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


In 1916, Lawrence Sperry built and patented an "aerial torpedo", a small biplane carrying a TNT charge, a Sperry autopilot and a barometric altitude control. Inspired by these 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 period between the World Wars 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.

Germany first deployed cruise style missiles, during World War II. 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 (while not sufficient to outperform contemporary interceptors) and expendability. The production cost of a V-1 was only a small fraction of that of a V-2 supersonic ballistic missile, carrying a similar-sized warhead. Unlike the V-2, however, 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.

Immediately after the war the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects, including would-be cruise missiles. All were cancelled by 1948, except four — 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.[5]

During the Cold War period 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.


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 a number of 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

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 a jet engine, turbofan engines being preferred due to their greater efficiency at low altitude and subsonic speed.

Guidance systems

Main article: Missile guidance






A Hypersonic speed cruise missile would travel at least five times the speed of sound (Mach 5).


BrahMos shown at IMDS 2007.




Long-range subsonic

The United States, Russia, United Kingdom, Israel, South Korea, Turkey, Greece, Iran, China, Pakistan and India have developed several long-range subsonic cruise missiles. These missiles have a range of over 1,000 kilometres (620 mi) and fly at about 800 kilometres per hour (500 mph). They typically have a launch weight of about 1,500 kilograms (3,300 lb) 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.


Medium-range subsonic

Storm Shadow (UK/France/Italy)
A Pakistani Babur cruise missile launcher

These missiles are about the same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category, but the range is (officially) less than 1,000 km. Guidance systems vary.


Short-range subsonic




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.[26] Modern guidance systems permit accurate attacks.

(As of 2001) 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$830,000.[27] Both the Tomahawk and the AGM-86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm.

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 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.


Nuclear warhead versions




In 2014, India successfully tested nuclear-capable long-range subsonic cruise missile Nirbhay.[28] The missile was developed by India's Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE), has a range of more than 1,000 km (620 mi) and is expected to enter mass-production for the Indian Armed Forces by 2016.[29]




Pakistan currently has three cruise missile systems in service, of which, two are nuclear-capable cruise missiles: the air-launched Ra'ad and the ground-launched Babur, and the sea-launched Zarb.[30][31] Both, Ra'ad and Babur, can carry nuclear warheads between 10 and 35 kt, and deliver them to targets at a range of 350 km (220 mi) and 700 km (430 mi) respectively. Ra'ad is in the use of Pakistan Air Force since 2007, while Babur is with the Pakistan Army since 2005.[32] The Zarb, though not nuclear nor any information is officially submitted by the Pakistani military reports, joined the service with Pakistan Navy in 2016.



United States


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 Operation Enduring Freedom 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 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 Operation Odyssey Dawn 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


  2. Roger Branfill-Cook, "Torpedo", Seaforth Publishing, Great Britain 2014
  3. British Aerial Torpedoes
  4. "Object No. 212", 1936 report in _Tvorcheskoi Nasledie Akedemika Sergeya Pavlovicha Koroleva_
  5. The Evolution of the Cruise Missile by Werrell, Kenneth P. see PDF page 92 Archived March 4, 2007, at the Wayback Machine.
  6. "Hypersonic version of Brahmos on the way". The Times Of India. October 9, 2011.
  7. Shaurya surfaces as India's underwater nuclear missile - 1 - National News – News – MSN India
  8. "Shaurya surfaces as India's underwater nuclear missile". Business Standard News.
  14. "Supersonic Stealth Missile". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  15. Janes - Perseus: MBDA's missile of the future?
  16. "International Institute for Strategic Studies - IISS". Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  17. "New British missile three times as fast as current weapons". 21 June 2011. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  18. MBDA Systems
  19. "PARIS: Perseus set to go on the attack". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  20. Administrator. "Iran will unveil its new home-made cruise missile Meshkat in the near future 0909128 - September 2012 new army military defence industry - Military army defense industry news year 2012". Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  26. Communications, Raytheon Corporate. "Raytheon: Tomahawk Cruise Missile". Retrieved 2016-09-19.
  27. According to Prof Malcolm Charmers of defence think-tank the Royal United Services Institute
  28. "Meet India's New Nuclear Cruise Missile". The Diplomat. October 18, 2014.
  29. "Successful test for India's Nirbhay cruise missile". Space Daily. Oct 21, 2014.
  30. "Hatf 8". Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  31. "Hatf 7". Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  32. Mason, Shane. "Pakistan's Babur and Ra'ad Cruise Missiles: Strategic Implications for India". Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies. Retrieved 20 January 2016.
  33. "Kh-101 - Russian and Soviet Nuclear Forces". Retrieved 2012-02-13.
  34. "Cruise missile career comes to a close". U.S. Air Force, Tinker Air Force Base public affairs. 2012-04-24. Archived from the original on 2013-12-20. Retrieved 2012-12-27.
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