Cruise Missiles Cruise missiles (CMs) are pilotless vehicles

powered by jet engines: • Fly within the atmosphere• Speeds are subsonic

Cruise missiles conceived 60 years ago, militarily useful CMs built in late 1970s:

• Smaller and lighter nuclear warheads• Efficient turbofan engines• Highly capable miniaturized computers• GPS, Tercom, and terminal guidance• “Stealth” airframe technology

Cruise Missiles Key properties

– Small– Easily stored and launched– Highly penetrating– Versatile– Highly accurate– Very cheap (about ~ $1 million per copy)

Cruise Missiles

Launching Cruise Missiles

Launching Cruise Missiles

Cruise-Missile Guidance

Long-Range Cruise Missiles

Conventionally-Armed Tomahawk Cruise Missile

Cruise-Missile Guidance

TERCOM Terrain Contour Matching (TERCOM)

navigation system uses an on-board contour map of the terrain that a cruise missile will be flying over.

The system "sees" the terrain it is flying over using its radar system and matches this to the map stored in memory.

Considerably increases the accuracy of a missile compared to the older and simpler Inertial navigation system (INS).

TERCOM Tercom system also allows a missile to fly

lower, making it harder to detect by ground radar.

Employed together with the inertial navigation system. The inertial navigation system provides a rough positional information.

Comparing the contour map with the actual contour reading provided by the radar, the Tercom obtains estimate of the position. Information is fed back to the INS. This combined system is called the TAINS.

DSMAC

Another navigation system employed by cruise missiles is the Digital Scene-Mapping Area Correlator (DSMAC).

A DSMAC system compares a photograph of the target with the picture provided by an onboard camera, providing a further increase in accuracy.

Satellite Navigation

Another way to navigate a cruise missile is by using a satellite positioning system.

The GPS-based (or GLONASS-based) navigation is useful in a conflict with a technologically unsophisticated adversary.

Cruise-Missile Guidance

Accuracy of Cruise Missiles

Guided Missiles Specifications: Raduga Kh-55 Soviet/ Russian subsonic long-range cruise missile

• Length: 6.04 m (19 ft 7 in) • Width: 0.77 m • Diameter: 514 mm (20.24 in) • Wingspan: 3.10 m (10 ft 1 in) • Launch weight: 1185 kg • Warhead: 200 kt nuclear • Guidance: inertial with Doppler radar/terrain map

updates • Maximum speed: 720..830 km/h, approximately Mach

0.77 • Range: 3,000 km (1,860 mi) (Kh-55: 2500 km) • Launch altitude: 200 m .. 10 km

Babur Cruise Missile/Hatf VII Type: medium-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile Manufacturer: National Defence Complex (NDC) Specifications:

– Weight <1500 kg payload=>300kg– Length 6.25 m with booster= 7 m– Diameter 0.52 m Warhead Conventional and Nuclear

Engine turbo-fan and a solid-fuel boosterWingspan 2.67 m

– Operational Range 700 km or 435 mi Speed 880 km/h or 550 mph(0.8mach)

– Guidance System GPS, TERCOM , DSMAC, INS – Launch Platform transporter erector launcher (TEL)

Guided Missiles

DH-10 Specifications: Warhead Nuclear, high-explosive conventional, EMP, cluster

bombs, possibly anthrax Detonation mechanism timed plastic explosive Engine turbofan Operational range >2000+ km Flight ceiling about 10,000 feet Flight altitude about 10,000 feet

Speed  ? Guidance system INS, GPS, TERCOM, DSMAC Launch

platform  ?

Guided Missiles

Nirbhay Type Long-range, all-weather, subsonic cruise missile

Place of origin  India Specifications: Weight 1000 kg Length 6 m Diameter 0.52 m Operational

range 1000 km Speed 0.7 mach

Guided Missiles

Tomahawks in Action

Tomahawk layout LENGTH: 5.56 meters (18ft) WEIGHT: 1,300kg (aprox 2,200 lbs) WING SPAN: 2.67 meters (nearly

9ft) RANGE: 1,600km SPEED: 880km/h (550mph) 1. Infrared imagery sensor

2. "DSMAC" guidance system 3. Data/Communications link4. 1,000lb conventional warhead5. "DSMAC" illuminator6. Fuel cell7. "TERCOM" terrain matching system8. Turbojet subsonic engine

Source: BBC

Tomahawk – GPS’ Job Cruise missiles receive

an initial thrust from a detachable booster before onboard systems take over. Once airborne, it releases its wings and switches on navigational and communication systems.

The missile is guided at this early stage by GPS and onboard calculations based on its movements since launch.

Tomahawk – TERCOM

TERCOM – Terrain Contour Matching

Tomahawk missiles carries a 3-D map of its route.

In theory, TERCOM allows cruise missiles to avoid detection.

Tomahawk - DSMAC

DSMAC – Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation

Basically a search and destroy system

Only as good as the intelligence that the system is based on

Most accurate of all guidance systems used in cruise missiles

Tomahawk – Final Destination

US military claims missiles are 90% accurate.

1,000lb warhead detonates

Tomahawk – Future Outlook

Improved Target recognition and improved efficiency with missiles

Missile re-routing

Send live images back to base