Missile

A weapon or projectile propelled toward a target by its own engine or an external force. Missiles range from unguided rockets to guided weapons that adjust their course in flight.

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Rocket engine: An engine that produces thrust by expelling reaction mass, allowing a vehicle to move through air or space. Rocket engines propel many missiles without relying on atmospheric oxygen.
Guided missile: A missile that uses guidance systems to alter its path toward a target. Guided missiles form the broad class defined by in-flight course correction.
Surface-to-air missile: A missile launched from the ground or a ship to attack aircraft or other airborne targets. These missiles provide defense against aircraft, drones, and some incoming weapons.
Rocket: A vehicle or projectile propelled by reaction force from expelled exhaust. The missile's propulsion lineage begins with rocket technology.
Nuclear deterrence: A strategy that seeks to prevent attack by threatening devastating nuclear retaliation. Long-range missiles made retaliatory nuclear strikes possible even after an enemy attack.
Missile guidance: The methods and systems that direct a missile toward a target during flight. Guidance distinguishes course-correcting weapons from projectiles that simply follow an initial trajectory.
Unguided rocket: A rocket-propelled projectile that follows its launch direction without steering toward a target. Unguided rockets lack the course-correction that defines guided missiles.
Anti-ship missile: A missile designed to attack ships, usually by launching from land, aircraft, or another vessel. Anti-ship weapons show how missile design adapts to moving maritime targets.
Congreve rocket: A military rocket developed by William Congreve and used by British forces in the early nineteenth century. It illustrates an early military use of rockets as projectiles.
Mutual assured destruction: A deterrence condition in which nuclear-armed opponents can each inflict unacceptable destruction on the other. Missile forces helped make both sides' ability to retaliate credible.