Intercontinental ballistic missile: Difference between revisions
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (New page: An '''intercontinental ballistic missile''' (ICBM) is a land-based missile with a range in excess of 5500 kilometers.<ref name=STARTGlossary>{{citation | url = http://www.fas.org/nuke/con...) |
imported>Howard C. Berkowitz (subpages and updates) |
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An '''intercontinental ballistic missile''' (ICBM) is a land-based missile with a range in excess of 5500 kilometers.<ref name=STARTGlossary>{{citation | An '''intercontinental ballistic missile''' (ICBM) is a land-based missile with a range in excess of 5500 kilometers.<ref name=STARTGlossary>{{citation | ||
| url = http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/start1/glossary.htm | | url = http://www.fas.org/nuke/control/start1/glossary.htm | ||
| title = Glossary of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Terms | | title = Glossary of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Terms | ||
| author = Federation of American Scientists}}</ref>. "Ballistic" describes its trajectory, with a powered '''boost phase''' into space, '''midcourse''' coasting along a suborbital phase, and unpowered '''reentry''' at one or more points determined by a precision navigational system. | | author = Federation of American Scientists}}</ref>. "Ballistic" describes its trajectory, with a powered '''boost phase''' into space, '''midcourse''' coasting along a suborbital phase, and unpowered '''reentry''' at one or more points determined by a precision navigational system. | ||
==Categories== | |||
ICBMs, variants of which are used as space launch vehicles, are categorized as "heavy" or "light". Heavy ICBMs have a total launch weight greater than 106,000 kilograms or a payload throw-weight greater than 4,350 kilograms. Heavier ICBMs can lift larger single [[reentry vehicle]]s, as were needed for early high-yield thermonuclear bombs, or multiple reentry vehicles. | |||
"First generation" ICBMs, such as the US [[Atlas (missile]], required liquid fueling before they could be launched, a process taking hours and leaving the missile quite vulnerable. The second generation used either solid propellants or storable liquid propellants, and could be launched from a hardened silo. Third generation ICBMs were far more accurate, were capable of using multiple reentry vehicles, were even more accurate, and could be in even more hardened launch facilities. | |||
==Guidance and accuracy== | |||
Guidance most often uses [[inertial navigation]], sensing accelerations and decelerations on the path away from a precisely surveyed launch point. Some also use [[celestial navigation]], primarily before reentry, in which they determine their location based on the bearings to a set of stars. Certain early first-generation ICBMs also received guidance commands from their launch point, during the boost phase. | |||
ICBMs, | ==Payloads== | ||
ICBMs most commonly had nuclear warheads, although there are reports that some Soviet missiles may have had biological warheads.<ref name=Alibek>{{citation | |||
| title = Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It | |||
| first1 = Ken | last1 = Alibek | first2= Stephen | last2 =Handelman | |||
| publisher = Delta | |||
| year = 2000 | |||
}}</ref> Several U.S. Minuteman ICBMs carried radio transmitters of the [[Emergency Rocket Communications System]], which could send launch orders to other nuclear forces.<ref name=ERCS>{{citation | |||
| author = Federation of American Scientists | |||
| url = http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/c3i/ercs.htm | |||
| title = Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS)}}</ref> | |||
With the reduction of nuclear payloads through [[arms control]], there is experimentation with the use of "kinetic kill" warheads for ballistic missiles. The kinetic energy of the reentry vehicle is so high that a conventional explosive warhead would be of no benefit; | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||
{{reflist}} | {{reflist}} | ||
Revision as of 21:44, 10 May 2008
An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a land-based missile with a range in excess of 5500 kilometers.[1]. "Ballistic" describes its trajectory, with a powered boost phase into space, midcourse coasting along a suborbital phase, and unpowered reentry at one or more points determined by a precision navigational system.
Categories
ICBMs, variants of which are used as space launch vehicles, are categorized as "heavy" or "light". Heavy ICBMs have a total launch weight greater than 106,000 kilograms or a payload throw-weight greater than 4,350 kilograms. Heavier ICBMs can lift larger single reentry vehicles, as were needed for early high-yield thermonuclear bombs, or multiple reentry vehicles.
"First generation" ICBMs, such as the US Atlas (missile, required liquid fueling before they could be launched, a process taking hours and leaving the missile quite vulnerable. The second generation used either solid propellants or storable liquid propellants, and could be launched from a hardened silo. Third generation ICBMs were far more accurate, were capable of using multiple reentry vehicles, were even more accurate, and could be in even more hardened launch facilities.
Guidance and accuracy
Guidance most often uses inertial navigation, sensing accelerations and decelerations on the path away from a precisely surveyed launch point. Some also use celestial navigation, primarily before reentry, in which they determine their location based on the bearings to a set of stars. Certain early first-generation ICBMs also received guidance commands from their launch point, during the boost phase.
Payloads
ICBMs most commonly had nuclear warheads, although there are reports that some Soviet missiles may have had biological warheads.[2] Several U.S. Minuteman ICBMs carried radio transmitters of the Emergency Rocket Communications System, which could send launch orders to other nuclear forces.[3]
With the reduction of nuclear payloads through arms control, there is experimentation with the use of "kinetic kill" warheads for ballistic missiles. The kinetic energy of the reentry vehicle is so high that a conventional explosive warhead would be of no benefit;
References
- ↑ Federation of American Scientists, Glossary of Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty Terms
- ↑ Alibek, Ken & Stephen Handelman (2000), Biohazard: The Chilling True Story of the Largest Covert Biological Weapons Program in the World--Told from Inside by the Man Who Ran It, Delta
- ↑ Federation of American Scientists, Emergency Rocket Communications System (ERCS)