Questions tagged [missiles]
In modern military usage, a missile, or guided missile, is a self-propelled precision-guided munition system, as opposed to an unguided self-propelled munition, referred to as a rocket. All known existing missiles are designed to be propelled during powered flight by chemical reactions inside a rocket engine, jet engine, or other type of engine.
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What kind of damage would low-level supersonic flight inflict?
I was watching a video about "The Big Stick" aka Project Pluto, a nuclear powered SLAM. In the video (I couldn't find the exact video) it said that after deploying its weapon payload a SLAM could fly ...
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With similar weapons why does an AH64 Apache require a pilot and gunner when the A10 Warthog only needs a pilot?
The Apache has a 30mm chain gun. It carries Hellfire (anti armor), Stinger/Sidewinder (air to air) and Hydra (air to ground, APKWS guidance package available) missiles.
source
The Warthog has a ...
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Do flares affect IR tracking devices?
If an IR device, such as a tracking FLIR system (not a heat-seeking missile), tracks an aircraft and that said aircraft would launch flares. Is the IR tracking device likely to be confused by the ...
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How do cruise missiles stay aloft? [duplicate]
How do cruise missiles fly? Where does the lift come from? On pictures you can see that they have wings what are tiny compared to the body / payload. Do they generate enough lift? Or is the propulsion,...
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Does Airforce one carry missiles to protect itself and its passengers?
Do the VC-25 aircraft used for Air Force One carry missiles to protect itself and its passengers?
If so, can these missiles be fired at potential threats?
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Why are some Tomahawk missiles' nose duck-nose shaped?
Why there is a duck-like shape in this Tomahawk missile's nose? I see this shape in most Tomahawk images; however, not every Tomahawk's nose is shaped like this. If it is an aerodynamic feature, ...
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Is it allowed to mount fake missiles on a civilian aircraft?
In this answer to a question asking to identify an aircraft, we can see a picture of a Aero L-39 Albatros with some missiles hanging from the wings:
(flickr.com) N915WE.
Supposedly, this is a ...
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Is it possible for a fighter jet to shoot itself down with an IR missile?
In this answer, it's mentioned that
However, IR missiles (AIM-9 Sidewinder, AA-11 Archer, MICA IR, ASRAAM) do not emit any EMR that indicates they're incoming; they use a passive FLIR sensor to ...
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Is making faster military fighters even practical?
I was curious after reading a book on Cold War plane development about the Soviet ideology of making increasingly powerful jets that could break Mach 3 and so on. With the advent of BVRAAM's such as ...
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Can a P51 outrun an missile? [closed]
No explanation needed, can a P-51 Mustang outrun a missile?
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Which one has a higher success rate between Infrared homing and Radar homing missiles, for air to air combat?
I know Infrared missiles don't work on long ranges, so I will keep my question limited to short ranges only, in which both missiles can work.
In such short ranges, which guidance system has more ...
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How did a Soviet SA-3 missile manage to shoot down the F-117 Nighthawk?
This question is about the F-117A that was shot down in 1999. How did an obsolete missile like the SA-3 shoot down such an advanced aircraft for its time? This question has nothing to do with how ...
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What is the difference between "x" and "+" configuration in missiles?
What is the difference between "x" and "+" configuration tail fins, and what are the advantages of each in free flight? (for example JDAM missiles)
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Can a missile be fired when a fighter jet is inverted?
Is there an attitude limit for firing a missile from a fighter jet? Can the pilots fire them when they're pulling Gs, or inverted?
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Why do you think Pakistani LACM and SLCM have different ranges? [closed]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babur_(cruise_missile)
The following is the picture of Pakistan's LACM Babur-II. Its billed range is 750 km.
The following is the picture of Pakistan's SLCM Babur-III. ...
user8792
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Why do cruise missiles look different than subsonic jet aircraft?
They both fly. They both carry loads.
Why do cruise missiles look too different from subsonic jet aircraft?
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Can a missile retarget to the heat from the firing aircraft's engines? [closed]
I have heard that modern war planes utilize missiles which are directed to the heat of the enemy aircraft's engines.
Can a missile, shot by a fighter helicopter or jet, target the heat of the ...
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Are well-known IR AAMs 'compatible' with aircraft from other countries?
The AA-2 Atoll was a Russian reverse-engineered clone of the AIM-9B Sidewinder. There are some sources that indicate, with varying degrees of veracity, that it was a good enough clone that the two ...
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Drone swarm technology on missiles [closed]
since drone swarm technology can control large amounts of drones in a coordinated manner, could it also be used on missiles? Imagine an aircraft could launch a few swarms of small missiles (like a ...
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Do different types of missiles indicate different lock tones to the pilot?
Are there different lock tones for different types of missiles, e.g. air-to-ground (AGM) or anti-ship (AShM)? If so, what information do the tones give the pilot? Are they a way for the pilot to know ...
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What weapons do A-10 Warthogs typically carry? [closed]
What is the A-10 Warthog's typical operational load out? Seeing as it is built a tank buster, does it actually carry anti-tank weapons, and what situations would they be used e.g would they (A-10's) ...
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What is the heat signature of a piston engine, relative to a jet engine?
I'm reading about the AIM-9 Sidewinder Missile again. I noticed this interesting photo:
Notice, that's a piston-engined aircraft, and a small one at that. So I'm asking myself, how did the missile ...
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When were flares first used as IR countermeasures, and by whom?
I've been trying to find the history of flares (as countermeasures to heat-seeking missiles), but have not had much luck. Closest thing has been this wiki article which has but a single sentence in ...
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In what manner was the Vympel R-73 (AA-11 Archer) a game-changer in comparison with NATO's missiles?
I have heard that when the Vympel R-73 air-to-air missile was introduced it was a game-changer.
I have also heard that after the collapse of the Soviet block it was tested by NATO (via re-united ...
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How do X-shaped control surfaces work?
I watched this video of the Raytheon SDB II and noticed that it seems to have no control surfaces on its wings, just the four fins on the tail. How do these fins work to alter the attitude of the SDB ...
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Air to air Missile Guidance vs countermeasures [closed]
How do missiles successfully hit an air target despite the fact that nearly all Military aircraft are equipped with countermeasures.
Heat Seeker/Infrared missiles : IR Flares as countermeasure
Radar ...
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What is the ultraviolet signature, if any, of aircraft and jet engines?
The Wikipedia article on the FIM-92 B variant of the Stinger Missile says:
In this version, the infrared seeker head was replaced by a combined IR/UV seeker that utilized rosette scanning. This ...
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What is this B-52 carrying?
Source:(en.wikipedia.org)They look like fighter jets attached to both wings, but can't really tell what they are. What are these objects on the wings?
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Can Hellfire missiles be used effectively as air-to-air weapons? [closed]
Consider the following hypothetical scenario:
An MQ-1 Predator pilot sees an Su-27 closing in from straight ahead for a kill. The pilot prepares to write up his 10th loss of the week when he has an ...
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In current missile, what is the guidance law used at terminal phase in homing missile guidance? [closed]
In current missile, what is the guidance law used at terminal phase in homing missile guidance?
eg: Proportional navigation, Augumented PN, Optimal Guidance Law, etc
At what distance the terminal ...
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How do combat jets know when to launch flares to counter IR missiles?
From my related question, it seems fighter jets do not usually track missiles by radar. Instead, they have a system that warns of radar lock.
So what about infrared missiles (heat-seeking missiles)? ...
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Do fighter jets have forward-looking radar warnings for missiles, and when was this first implemented?
Let's imagine a swarm of fighter jets intercepting another swarm. Both groups are moving head-on towards each other. Once they get in range, they will probably lock on and fire missiles.
Do fighter ...
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How can the concept of "intercept geometry" be explained in simple terms?
Can someone expand a bit for the layman with emphasis on Intercept geometry the following image depicting the envelope of a SA-2 missile against a moving Target.
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Could a SR-71 be shot down today?
I've read that the SR-71 had no missile defenses because it could simply outrun any adversary. Is this still true? Or is it unlikely that the SR-71 could operate unimpeded in the face of modern ...
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How are cruise missiles different from ballistic missiles?
Cruise missiles and ballistic missiles are used by many nations as offensive and defensive technology. How do cruise missiles and ballistic missiles maneuver, and what are the differences between the ...
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How does a Missile Lock Work?
When we say that a missile has been locked on a target (lets assume a fast moving target, and that the missile is mounted on a fast moving plane), we assume that once the missile has been locked onto ...
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Do fighter jets experience a reaction or recoil force upon firing a missile?
When fighter jets fire a missile, do they observe any kind of reaction force due to firing the missile? If yes, how is this observed by the pilot? If no, why not?
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How can you stop your missile locking onto a friendly target?
In the modern day we have advanced planes, and advanced missile systems, however, how can you stop your missile firing at a friendly aircraft?
In planes like the F22 Raptor you can turn on sight lock,...
user8732
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Can jet fighter missiles descend or ascend?
I am wondering that if missiles fired from jet fighters can ascend or descend?
Are they going to aim only horizontally?
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Why do heavy bombers not carry air-to-air missiles?
Imagine a heavy bomber – such as the B52, Tu160 or B1 – is heading toward a hot zone carrying a large number of AMRAAM or longer ranged missiles. Why doesn't it also carry air-to-air ...
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How does the Guardian counter-MANPADS system work?
I came across this picture of a FedEx McDonnell Douglas DC-10 equipped with an anti-missile defense system.
(wikimedia.org)
According to the picture description:
FedEx became the first U.S. ...
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How are anti-aircraft missiles tested?
How are anti-aircraft missiles and counter-measures tested?
When they design an anti-aircraft missile, how do they test it so that it actually locks on to a target and destroys it? Do they simply fly ...
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Why don't airliners carry radar jamming technology or missile counter measures?
Why is it that commercial passenger aircraft that fly through dangerous areas don't carry some sort of electronic counter measure to defend themselves from missiles? Between terrorism and the various ...
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Can a civilian aircraft pilot see a missile coming?
Can a civilian aircraft pilot see a missile coming?
By "civilian aircraft," I mean planes that were not equipped with flares that fire when rockets approach or any similar anti-missile systems. If ...
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