# List of missiles
A missile is an unmanned, self-propelled, self-contained, unrecalculable vehicle, guided or unguided, designed to deliver a weapon or other payload to a target[1](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/474188/files/A_57_229-EN.pdf). In modern military usage the word covers two broad families, ballistic missiles, which are guided during powered flight and then follow a free-falling trajectory under gravity and atmospheric drag, and cruise missiles, which sustain flight through the atmosphere on constant propulsion and aerodynamic lift[2](https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Images/News/Military_Powers_Publications/Nuclear_Challenges_2024.pdf). This article organizes the main categories of missile and lists representative systems with their defining figures.
| Category | Representative system | Key figures |
|---|---|---|
| First operational ballistic missile | German V-2 (A-4), 1942 | Range about 320 km; one-ton warhead[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19600342000) |
| First cruise missile | German V-1 (Fieseler Fi 103) | 2,000-pound warhead flown about 150 miles[4](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/a-brief-history-of-unmanned-aircraft-174072843/) |
| Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) | U.S. LGM-30G Minuteman III | Three-stage solid propellant; range 13,000 km; in service 1970 to present[5](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/minuteman-iii/) |
| Submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) | UGM-133 Trident II D5 | Range 2,000 to 12,000 km; up to 8 MIRV warheads; in service 1990[6](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/trident/) |
| Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM) | Russian 9K720 Iskander (SS-26) | Road-mobile; range up to 500 km; in service 2006[7](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/ss-26-2/) |
| Subsonic cruise missile | U.S. Tomahawk | Range 1,250 to 2,500 km; ship and submarine launched; in service 1983[8](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/) |
| Supersonic cruise missile | BrahMos (PJ-10), India and Russia | Mach 2.0 to 2.8; range 300 to 500 km[9](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/brahmos/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block) |
| Air and missile defense interceptor | MIM-104 Patriot (PAC-3) | Hit-to-kill interceptor; PAC-3 weighs 312 kg, about a third of a PAC-2 missile[10](https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/) |
## How missiles are classified
The two defining families differ in trajectory. A ballistic missile is guided during powered flight and unguided during free flight, when its trajectory is subject only to gravity and atmospheric drag[2](https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Images/News/Military_Powers_Publications/Nuclear_Challenges_2024.pdf). A cruise missile travels at an approximately constant velocity for most of its flight, relying on the dynamic reaction of air for lift and on propulsion to balance drag[11](https://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/NMHB2020rev/glossary.html).
**Range bands.** Ballistic missiles are conventionally divided by range: a close-range ballistic missile (CRBM) has a range under 300 km, and an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is one that can deliver a warhead to 5,500 km or more, a definition set during the Cold War because 5,500 km approximates the minimum distance between contiguous Russian and U.S. territories[2](https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Images/News/Military_Powers_Publications/Nuclear_Challenges_2024.pdf) • [12](https://missilethreat.csis.org/critical-questions-north-koreas-new-icbm/). Between these sit short-range (SRBM), medium-range (MRBM), and intermediate-range (IRBM) systems.
**Launch environment.** Missiles are also classified by where they are launched from: silos and other fixed facilities, submarines and surface ships, road- and rail-mobile launchers, and aircraft[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf). Mobile basing provides greater pre-launch survivability[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf). Cruise missiles divide by mission into land-attack cruise missiles (LACM) and anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM), and by launch platform into aircraft, ship, submarine, or ground launcher[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf).
## Origins: the V-1 and V-2
The first combat use of guided cruise and ballistic missiles came in World War II, when Germany struck targets in England and [Northern Europe](https://www.edgepedia.org/northern-europe) using the V-1 cruise missile and the V-2 ballistic missile.[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf) The V-1, the Fieseler Fi 103 or "Buzz Bomb," was powered by a pulsejet engine, carried a 2,000-pound warhead approximately 150 miles, and was guided by gyroscopes, barometers, and an anemometer that calculated distance flown before putting the missile into a steep dive; the Germans launched roughly 20,000 V-1s, killing more than 10,000 civilians and injuring nearly 28,000[4](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/a-brief-history-of-unmanned-aircraft-174072843/).
The V-2, called the A-4 (Aggregat 4) by German Army Ordnance and dubbed V-2, or Vergeltungswaffe Zwei ("Vengeance Weapon Two"), by the Nazi Propaganda Ministry in November 1944, was the world's first large-scale liquid-propellant rocket vehicle and the first modern long-range ballistic missile[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19600342000). Launched from mobile platforms, it had a maximum range of about 320 km and a one-ton warhead, and at least 10,000 concentration camp workers died in its manufacture[3](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19600342000). Although these first missiles were inaccurate, their use killed or injured tens of thousands of Allied civilians and produced substantial psychological effects[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf).
## Representative ballistic missiles
**Scud (R-11/SS-1).** The Soviet R-11 family of short-range, liquid-fueled ballistic missiles entered service in 1955, descended from prior German wartime rocket programs, and became the basis for a wide variety of ballistic missiles proliferated across the world[14](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/scud/). The R-17 "Scud B," operational from 1962, has a range of 300 km with an accuracy of 450 m CEP (circular error probable; radius containing half of impact points) and carries nuclear warheads between 5 and 70 kT, chemical agents, or conventional high explosive; over 600 Scud B variants were fired by Iran and Iraq between 1980 and 1988[14](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/scud/).
**Iskander (SS-26).** Russia's [9K720 Iskander](https://www.edgepedia.org/9k720-iskander) is a road-mobile SRBM with a range of up to 500 km, in service since 2006, whose transporter-erector-launcher can also fire the 9M728 and 9M729 cruise missiles[7](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/ss-26-2/).
**Minuteman III.** The LGM-30G is a three-stage, solid-fueled ICBM with a maximum range of 13,000 km, the sole land-based component of the U.S. nuclear triad since the Peacekeeper's removal in 2005[5](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/minuteman-iii/). It was the first U.S. missile fitted with MIRVs, multiple warheads that separate and follow different trajectories; certain ICBMs with MIRV payloads can hit targets separated by over 1,500 km with a single missile[5](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/minuteman-iii/) • [13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf).
**Trident II D5.** The UGM-133 is a three-stage, solid-fueled SLBM deployed by the United States and United Kingdom on Ohio- and Vanguard-class submarines, with a range of 2,000 to 12,000 km and up to eight MIRV warheads[6](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/trident/).
## Representative cruise missiles
**Tomahawk.** The U.S. Tomahawk is an intermediate-range, subsonic cruise missile launched from Navy ships and submarines, with a range of 1,250 to 2,500 km and in service since 1983[8](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/). Block II variants achieved an accuracy of less than 10 m CEP, and Block IV missiles can be rerouted in flight and loiter over a target[8](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/).
**BrahMos.** The BrahMos (PJ-10) is a short-range, ramjet-powered, supersonic anti-ship and land-attack cruise missile developed jointly by India and Russia, flying at Mach 2.0 to 2.8 with a range of 300 to 500 km[9](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/brahmos/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block).
## Defense against missiles
Interceptor missiles form their own category. The [MIM-104 Patriot](https://www.edgepedia.org/mim-104-patriot) is the U.S. Army's primary air and missile defense system, originally designed as an antiaircraft system and later upgraded to engage ballistic and cruise missiles, loitering munitions, and aircraft[10](https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/). Its PAC-3 family is a clean-sheet departure that uses hit-to-kill technology rather than a blast-fragmentation warhead, with 180 solid-fueled attitude control motors for maneuverability[10](https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/).
## Hypersonic systems
A hypersonic weapon travels at Mach 5 or faster[2](https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Images/News/Military_Powers_Publications/Nuclear_Challenges_2024.pdf). Hypersonic glide vehicles (HGVs) are an emerging payload class launched by ballistic missile boosters; they are maneuverable, travel at hypersonic speed, and spend most of their flight at much lower altitudes than a typical ballistic missile, a combination that makes them challenging targets for missile defense[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf). Russia deployed the world's first ICBM-class HGV system, the Avangard mounted on SS-19 boosters, in 2019, and China publicly revealed a missile carrying an HGV the same year[13](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf).
## Non-proliferation
There is no agreement that generally bans the development, transfer, or use of missiles[15](https://www.sipri.org/research/armament-and-disarmament/dual-use-and-arms-trade-control/weapons-mass-destruction/missile-non-proliferation). The [Missile Technology Control Regime](https://www.edgepedia.org/missile-technology-control-regime) (MTCR), an informal agreement created in 1987 rather than a treaty, and the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation (HCOC), a politically binding instrument built on pre-launch notifications and annual declarations, are the cornerstones of the current missile non-proliferation regime[15](https://www.sipri.org/research/armament-and-disarmament/dual-use-and-arms-trade-control/weapons-mass-destruction/missile-non-proliferation) • [16](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL31559.html) • [17](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/40659/st12189-en19.pdf).
## References
1. [The issue of missiles in all its aspects, Report of the Secretary-General, A/57/229 (2002), United Nations](https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/474188/files/A_57_229-EN.pdf)
2. [Glossary and Explanation of Terms, Nuclear Challenges 2024, Defense Intelligence Agency](https://www.dia.mil/Portals/110/Images/News/Military_Powers_Publications/Nuclear_Challenges_2024.pdf)
3. [Missile, Surface-to-Surface, V-2 (A-4), Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum](https://www.si.edu/object/nasm_A19600342000)
4. [A Brief History of Unmanned Aircraft, Smithsonian Air & Space Magazine](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/air-space-magazine/a-brief-history-of-unmanned-aircraft-174072843/)
5. [Minuteman III, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/minuteman-iii/)
6. [Trident D5, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/trident/)
7. [9K720 Iskander (SS-26), Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/ss-26-2/)
8. [Tomahawk, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/tomahawk/)
9. [BrahMos, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/brahmos/?trk=article-ssr-frontend-pulse_little-text-block)
10. [Patriot, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/system/patriot/)
11. [Nuclear Matters Handbook 2020 (Revised), Glossary, U.S. Department of Defense](https://www.acq.osd.mil/ncbdp/nm/NMHB2020rev/glossary.html)
12. [North Korea's New ICBM, Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/critical-questions-north-koreas-new-icbm/)
13. [Ballistic and Cruise Missile Threat, National Air and Space Intelligence Center / Defense Intelligence Ballistic Missile Analysis Committee, July 2020](https://missilethreat.csis.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/2020-BALLISTIC-AND-CRUISE-MISSILE-THREAT_FINAL_2OCT_REDUCEDFILE.pdf)
14. [R-11 (SS-1) "Scud", Missile Threat, CSIS Missile Defense Project](https://missilethreat.csis.org/missile/scud/)
15. [Missile non-proliferation, Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)](https://www.sipri.org/research/armament-and-disarmament/dual-use-and-arms-trade-control/weapons-mass-destruction/missile-non-proliferation)
16. [Proliferation Control Regimes: Background and Status, CRS Report RL31559](https://www.everycrsreport.com/reports/RL31559.html)
17. [Hague Code of Conduct against the Proliferation of Ballistic Missiles (HCoC), Council of the European Union](https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/40659/st12189-en19.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Technology and the built world › Engineering and manufacturing › Missiles and rocketry*
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