History of Missile

The use of missiles dates back to the Vedic age in India. Indian warriors have used "Astras"
as missile
in various forms from that period in the subcontinent, proofs of which can be drawn from a
number of epics such as the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.
The deadly weapons and the scriptures regarding the technology were later concealed to
prevent any future happenings of the ‘Idikasa’ (an important historic part in the history of
Indian religion) for the sake of the survival of mankind.
In olden days, the Astra (a supernatural weapon) was controlled by ‘Mantras’ (a sound,
syllable, or group of words that are considered capable of creating transformation) that could
be correlated to the mission control software of the modern day missiles.

World’s first rocket

Fighting the British colonial army, Tipu Sultan and his army used thousands of rockets
resulting in the defeat of the troops in the Srirangapatna war in 1792. The rockets were
attached with bamboo or steel spears and powered by gun powder, propellant compacted in a
cast iron chamber with nozzle and igniters capable of attacking enemy cavalry and soldiers.
The modern day missiles have their roots in Germany as the country developed the first
successful Guided missiles V1 and V2. After World War II, several other nations developed a
variety of missile systems.
India had mastered missile technology from olden days, but it was left behind in this field
when the Britishers ruled the country for hundreds of years, resulting in lack of resources,
research environment and capabilities.
This was the time when India decided to go ahead with its Integrated Guided Missile
Development Programme (IGMDP), headed by eminent scientist and former President of
India Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam who launched the first Satellite Launch Vehicle, SLV-3 putting
the Rohini Satellite in orbit.
The IGMDP project began on July 26, 1983 at the Defence Research and Development
Laboratory (DRDL) in Hyderabad. A host of missiles, including the strategic Agni Integrated
Range Ballistic Missile (IRBM), the tactical Prithvi, the Akash and Trishul surface-to-air
missiles and the Nag anti-tank guided missile were developed under the programme. The
project gave India the capability to produce indigenous missiles in other key as well.
Indigenous development of the weapon was required to negate the dominance of western
nations who imposed their will on developing countries by enforcing pacts like the Missile
Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Such pacts were aimed at controlling access to and
availability of advanced weapon systems to India.
A new world order emerged after India carried out the nuclear experiment in May 1998 and
became a nuclear-weapon state.
Today, India is one of the few countries in the world to have indigenously developed missile
systems including critical technologies
Classification of Missile
Missiles are generally classified on the basis of their Type, Launch Mode, Range, Propulsion,
Warhead
and Guidance Systems.

Type:
Cruise Missile
Ballistic Missile

Launch Mode:
Surface-to-Surface Missile
Surface-to-Air Missile
Surface (Coast)-to-Sea Missile
Air-to-Air Missile
Air-to-Surface Missile
Sea-to-Sea Missile
Sea-to-Surface (Coast) Missile
Anti-Tank Missile

Range:
Short Range Missile
Medium Range Missile
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Propulsion:
Solid Propulsion
Liquid Propulsion
Hybrid Propulsion
Ramjet
Scramjet
Cryogenic
Warhead:
Conventional
Strategic

Guidance Systems:
Wire Guidance
Command Guidance
Terrain Comparison Guidance
Terrestrial Guidance
Inertial Guidance
Beam Rider Guidance
Laser Guidance
RF and GPS Reference

On the basis of Type:

(i) Cruise Missile: A cruise missile is an unmanned self-propelled (till the time of impact)
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. They fly within
the earth’s atmosphere and use jet engine technology. These vehicles vary greatly in their
speed and ability to penetrate defences. Cruise missiles can be categorised by size, speed
(subsonic or supersonic), range and whether launched from land, air, surface ship or
submarine.

Fig: cruise missiles

Depending upon the speed such missiles are classified as:

1) Subsonic cruise missile
2) Supersonic cruise missile
3) Hypersonic cruise missile
Subsonic cruise missile flies at a speed lesser than that of sound. It travels at a speed of
around 0.8 Mach. The well-known subsonic missile is the American Tomahawk cruise
missile Some other examples are Harpoon of USA and Exocet of France. Supersonic cruise
missile travels at a speed of around 2-3 Mach i.e.; it travels a kilometre approximately in a
second. The modular design of the missile and its capability of being launched at different
orientations enable it to be integrated with a wide spectrum of platforms like warships,
submarines, different types of aircraft, mobile autonomous launchers and silos. The
combination of supersonic speed and warhead mass provides high kinetic energy ensuring
tremendous lethal effect. BRAHMOS is the only known versatile supersonic cruise missile
system which is in service.
Hypersonic cruise missile travels at a speed of more than 5 Mach. Many countries are
working to develop hypersonic cruise missiles. BrahMos Aerospace is also in the process of
developing a hypersonic cruise missile, BRAHMOS-II, which would fly at a speed greater
than 5 Mach.
(ii) Ballistic Missile: A ballistic missile is a missile that has a ballistic trajectory over most of
its flight path, regardless of whether or not it is a weapon-delivery vehicle. Ballistic missiles
are categorised according to their range, maximum distance measured along the surface of
earth's ellipsoid from the point of launch to the point of impact of the last element of their
payload. The missile carry a huge payload. The carriage of a deadly warhead is justified by
the distance the missile travels. Ballistic missiles can be launched from ships and land based
facilities. For example, Prithvi I, Prithvi II, Agni I, Agni II and Dhanush ballistic missiles are
currently operational in the Indian defence forces.

On the basis of Launch Mode:

(i) Surface-to-Surface Missile: A surface-to-surface missile is a guided projectile launched
from a hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or fixed installation. It is often powered
by a rocket motor or sometimes fired by an explosive charge since the launch platform is
stationary.
(ii) Surface-to-Air Missile: A surface-to-air missile is designed for launch from the ground
to destroy aerial targets like aircrafts, helicopters and even ballistic missiles. These missiles
are generally called air defence systems as they defend any aerial attacks by the enemy.
(iii) Surface (Coast)-to-Sea Missile: A surface (coast)-to-sea missile is designed to be
launched from land to ship in the sea as targets.

Fig: Air to Air missile

(iv) Air-to-Air Missile: An air-to-air missile is launched from an aircraft to destroy the
enemy aircraft. The missile flies at a speed of 4 Mach.
(v) Air-to-Surface Missile: An air-to-surface missile is designed for launch from military
aircraft and strikes ground targets on land, at sea or both. The missiles are basically guided
via laser guidance, infrared guidance and optical guidance or via GPS signals. The type of
guidance depends on the type of target.

(vi) Sea-to-Sea Missile: A sea-to-sea missile is designed for launch from one ship to another
ship.
(vii) Sea-to-Surface (Coast) Missile: A sea-to-surface missile is designed for launch from
ship to land based targets.

Fig: Anti tank missile

(viii) Anti-Tank Missile: An anti-tank missile is a guided missile primarily designed to hit
and destroy heavily-armoured tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles. Anti-tank missiles
could be launched from aircraft, helicopters, tanks and also from shoulder mounted launcher.

On the basis of Range:

This type of classification is based on maximum range achieved by the missiles. The basic
classification is as follows:
(i) Short Range Missile
(ii) Medium Range Missile
(iii) Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
(iv) Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

On the basis of Propulsion:

(i) Solid Propulsion: Solid fuel is used in solid propulsion. Generally, the fuel is aluminium
powder. Solid propulsion has the advantage of being easily stored and can be handled in
fuelled condition. It can reach very high speeds quickly. Its simplicity also makes it a good
choice whenever large amount of thrust is needed.
(ii) Liquid Propulsion: The liquid propulsion technology uses liquid as fuel. The fuels are
hydrocarbons. The storage of missile with liquid fuel is difficult and complex. In addition,
preparation of missile takes considerable time. In liquid propulsion, propulsion can be
controlled easily by restricting the fuel flow by using valves and it can also be controlled
even under emergency conditions. Basically, liquid fuel gives high specific impulse as
compared to solid fuel.

Fig : Liquid & Solid propulsion systems

 (ii) Hybrid Propulsion: There are two stages in hybrid propulsion - solid propulsion and
liquid propulsion. This kind of propulsion compensates the disadvantages of both propulsion
systems and has the combined advantages of the two propulsion system.

Fig: Ramjet propulsion missile

(iii) Ramjet: A ramjet engine does not have any turbines unlike turbojet engines. It achieves
compression of intake air just by the forward speed of the air vehicle. The fuel is injected and
ignited. The expansion of hot gases after fuel injection and combustion accelerates the
exhaust air to a velocity higher than that at the inlet and creates positive push. However, the
air entering the engine should be at supersonic speeds. So, the aerial vehicle must be moving
in supersonic speeds. Ramjet engines cannot propel an aerial vehicle from zero to supersonic
speeds.
(iv) Scramjet: Scramjet is an acronym for Supersonic Combustion Ramjet. The difference
between scramjet and ramjet is that the combustion takes place at supersonic air velocities
through the engine. It is mechanically simple, but vastly more complex aerodynamically than
a jet engine. Hydrogen is normally the fuel used.
(v) Cryogenic: Cryogenic propellants are liquefied gases stored at very low temperatures,
most frequently liquid hydrogen as the fuel and liquid oxygen as the oxidizer. Cryogenic
propellants require special insulated containers and vents which allow gas to escape from the
evaporating liquids. The liquid fuel and oxidizer are pumped from the storage tanks to an
expansion chamber and injected into the combustion chamber where they are mixed and
ignited by a flame or spark. The fuel expands as it burns and the hot exhaust gases are
directed out of the nozzle to provide thrust.

On the basis of Warhead:

(i) Conventional Warhead: A conventional warhead contains high energy explosives. It is
filled with a chemi al explosive and relies on the detonation of the explosive and the resulting
metal casing fragmentation as kill mechanisms.

Fig: conventional warhead missile system

(ii) Strategic Warhead: In a strategic warhead, radio active materials are present and when
triggered they exhibit huge radio activity that can wipe out even cities. They are generally
designed for mass annihilation

On the basis of Guidance Systems :

(i) Wire Guidance: This system is broadly similar to radio command, but is less
susceptible toelectronic counter measures. The command signals are passed along
a wire (or wires) dispensed from the missile after launch.
 Fig: command Guidance system
(ii)Command Guidance: Command guidance involves tracking the projectile from the
launch site or platform and transmitting commands by radio, radar, or laser impulses or along
thin wires or optical fibres. Tracking might be accomplished by radar or optical instruments
from the launch site or by radar or television imagery relayed from the missile.
(iii) Terrain Comparison Guidance: Terrain Comparison (TERCOM) is used invariably by
cruise missiles. The system uses sensitive altimeters to measure the profile of the ground
directly below and checks the result against stored information.
(iv) Terrestrial Guidance: This system constantly measures star angles and compares them
with the pre-programmed angles expected on the missile’s intended trajectory. The guidance
system directs the control system whenever an alteration to trajectory is required.
(v) Inertial Guidance: This system is totally contained within the missile and is programmed
prior to launch. Three accelerometers, mounted on a platform space-stabilised by gyros,
measure accelerations along three mutually perpendicular axes; these accelerations are then
integrated twice, the first integration giving velocity and the second giving position. The
system then directs the control system to preserve the pre-programmed trajectory. This
systems are used in the surface-to-surface missiles and in cruise missiles
 Fig: Beam rider Guidance
(vi) Beam Rider Guidance: The beam rider concept relies on an external ground or ship-
based radar station that transmits a beam of radar energy towards the target. The surface radar
3 target and also transmits a guidance beam that adjusts its angle as the target moves across
the sky.
(vii) Laser Guidance: In laser guidance, a laser beam is focused on the target and the laser
beam reflects off the target and gets scattered. The missile has a laser seeker that can detect
even miniscule amount of radiation. The seeker provides the direction of the laser scatters to
the guidance system. The missile is launched towards the target, the seeker looks out for the
laser reflections and the guidance system steers the missile towards the source of laser
reflections that is ultimately the target.
(viii) RF and GPS Reference: RF (Radio Frequency) and GPS (Global Positioning System)
are examples of technologies that are used in missile guidance systems. A missile uses signal
to determine the location of the target. Over the course of its flight, the weapon uses this
information to send commands to control surfaces and adjusts its trajectory. In a RF
reference,the missile uses RF waves to locate the target.