How do missiles work

All of us has seen war footage and Hollywood war movies Where a missile bound air strike saves the day. We have also heard of rockets something which seems to be just like a missile but isn’t. Although beyond the scope of This write-up but still we will make a small mention of rockets. By definition, A missile is a self-propelled vehicle which uses a guiding system to Guide it to its location. The basic difference between a missile and a rocket is its guidance system. A rocket has no guidance and relies on pre-fed coordinates to hit its target. Missiles were first developed by German Nazis and were simple devices guided by radio waves. The missile technology has come a far way since then. Missile diagram Missiles are generally categorized based on its launch platform. Missiles can be air to surface, Surface-to-surface and air-to-air depending on the nature of the application and need. Some missiles can even be launched from underneath a sea where a submarine acts As the launch platform. Also, read: Rocket / Space Shuttle How It Works And Types Of PropellantHow does a jet engine work? Guidance and Targeting in missiles: Modern missiles are a complex piece of machinery, They make use of sophisticated computer algorithms and external guidance technology to reach their targets. Guidance and targeting for modern missile systems go hand in Hand as both are essentially required to make the hit a success. Missiles are really expensive pieces of equipment hence the guidance and; Targeting systems on them has to be flawless and perfect. A missile might use simply fixed GPS coordinates as sent back by a ground team; Near the target and responsible for marking the target and; Then the same is fed into the missiles computers which in turn decides the flight path of the missile.

Tag: How do missiles work

How do missiles work? | Targeting, Guidance & Propulsion