Both fighter and long-range bomber aircraft are capable of carrying and launching cruise missiles. Launch PlatformsĬruise missiles are capable of being launched from multiple ground, air, sea and submarine platforms. Instead, the modern cruise missile originates more from the V-1 Flying Bomb used by the Germany in the last months of World War II. Army developed the Kettering Bug, an unmanned aerial bomb designed to strike targets beyond the range of artillery and too dangerous for piloted aircraft. However, the Kettering Bug was never used in combat. The cruise missile has its beginnings in World War I, when the U.S. Cruise missiles are defined as “an unmanned self-propelled guided vehicle that sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its flight path and whose primary mission is to place an ordnance or special payload on a target.” Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned control-guided helicopters or aircraft can be included in this definition, but will not be discussed on this page. Cruise missiles differ from ballistic missiles in that they fly towards their target at lower altitudes, remaining within the Earth’s atmosphere throughout their trajectory. Cruise missiles, although similar to ballistic missiles in some regards, provide an alternate means to deliver a lethal payload rapidly and accurately to a target.
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