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Why are cruise missiles so good?
Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high precision. Modern cruise missiles are capable of travelling at supersonic, high subsonic or hypersonic speeds, are self-navigating, and are able to fly on a non-ballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory.
How did intercontinental missiles affect the Cold War?
During the Cold War, both the United States and the Soviet Union developed inter-continental ballistic missiles, known by the acronym ICBM, that were capable of reaching any target in each other’s territory. ICBMs could deliver nuclear weapons in a manner that was virtually immune to defensive measures.
What is intercontinental cruise missile (ICM)?
Intercontinental Cruise Missile (ICM) offers the mobility, they are carried around by truck, they can be moved relatively quickly, so the opponent can’t easily track their positions and target them, The only real benefit is that after delivering its payload, it could still return to the base and be reused.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of using missiles?
The main advantage is your target is never to far away. The other being since no one knows where they are, they are hard to stop before launch. Main disadvantage is once fired, everyone knows where you are. They are also giant bombs on board until they are fired, so if something goes wrong it could be bad for the crew.
How hard is it to intercept a missile?
Once launched, they are fairly easy to detect with radar or other sensors, but extremely difficult (some would argue practically impossible) to intercept. This is particularly true for missiles with longer range, such as intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Approximately, 32 countries possess ballistic missiles.
What is a ballistic missile?
About Ballistic Missiles. A ballistic missile is a rocket capable of guiding and propelling itself in a direction and to a velocity that, when the rocket engine shuts down, it will follow a flight pattern to a desired target. Ballistic missiles burn most of their propellant (fuel) in the initia…