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Surface To Air Missile

 
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Surface-to-air missile
 
 
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A surface to air missile (SAM) or ground-to-air missile (GTAM) is a missile
Missile

A guided missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used....
 designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
.






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Crotale Missile Launchers Dsc00866
Cruisemissile
Ozelot
A surface to air missile (SAM) or ground-to-air missile (GTAM) is a missile
Missile

A guided missile is a self-propelled projectile used as a weapon. Missiles are typically propelled by rockets or jet engines. Missiles generally have one or more explosive warheads, although other weapon types may also be used....
 designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft
Aircraft

An aircraft is a vehicle which is able to flight by being supported by the air, or in general, the atmosphere, of a planet. Examples include balloons, airplanes and helicopters....
. It is a type of anti-aircraft system.

Land-based SAMs can be deployed from fixed installations or mobile launchers, either wheeled or tracked. The tracked vehicles are usually armoured vehicles specifically designed to carry SAMs. Larger SAMs may be deployed in fixed launchers, but can be towed/re-deployed at will. The smallest SAMs are capable of being carried and launched by a single person. These types of SAM are also referred to as Man-Portable Air Defence Systems (MANPADS). Soviet MANPADS have been exported around the world and can still be found in many of their former client states. Other nations have developed their own MANPADS. Ship-based SAMs are in widespread use. Virtually all surface warships can be armed with SAMs (see list below). In fact, naval SAMs are a necessity for all front-line surface warships. Some warship types specialise in anti-air warfare e.g. Ticonderoga-class
Ticonderoga class cruiser

The Ticonderoga class of missile cruisers is a class of warships in the United States Navy, first ordered and authorized in Fiscal year 1978....
 cruisers equipped with the Aegis combat system
Aegis combat system

The Aegis combat system is an integrated weapons system used by the United States Navy. It is both an integrated single ship system and a ship-to-ship network....
 or Kirov class cruisers
Kirov class battlecruiser

The Kirov class battlecruisers are the largest and most powerful surface combatant warships in the Russian Navy and among the largest and most powerful in the world....
 with the S-300PMU Favorite missile system.

Targets for non-ManPAD SAMs will usually be acquired by air-search radar
Radar

Radar is a system that uses electromagnetic radiation waves to identify the range, altitude, direction, or speed of both moving and fixed objects such as aircraft, ships, motor vehicles, weather formations, and terrain....
, then tracked before/while a SAM is "locked-on"
Missile lock-on

Missile lock-on refers to a scenario where the guidance system for a missile can accurately track a target, and a fire-control system can calculate the required flightpath for the missile to hit the target....
 and then fired. Potential targets, if they are military aircraft, will be identified as friend or foe
Identification friend or foe

In telecommunications, identification, friend or foe is a cryptographic identification system designed for command and control. It is a system that enables military, and national interrogation systems to distinguish friendly aircraft, vehicles, or forces, and to determine their bearing and range from the interrogator....
 before being engaged.

Development of surface-to-air missiles began in Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany

Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the colloquial English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party , which established a Totalitarianism dictatorship that existed from 1933 to 1945....
 (hard pressed by Allied air superiority
Air superiority

Air superiority is the dominance in the air power of one side's air forces over the other side's during a military campaign. It is defined in the NATO Glossary as "That degree of dominance in the air battle of one force over another that permits the conduct of operations by the former and its related land, sea, and air forces at a given time...
) during late World War II
World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a Participants in World War II, including all of the great powers, organised into two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II and the Axis powers....
 with missiles such as the Wasserfall
Wasserfall

The Wasserfall Ferngelenkte Flakrakete , also known as Aggregate series#A5 , was a World War II guided surface-to-air missile developed at Peenem?nde, Germany....
 though no working system was deployed before the war's end.

See also

  • List of surface-to-air missiles
    List of surface-to-air missiles

    This is a list of surface-to-air missiles ....
  • Missile guidance
    Missile guidance

    Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness....
  • List of NATO reporting names for surface-to-air missiles
    List of NATO reporting names for surface-to-air missiles

    NATO reporting name for SA series surface-to-air missiles, with Soviet designations:* SA-1 Guild "Guild" * SA-2 Guideline "Guideline" * SA-3 Goa "Goa" ...
  • Anti-aircraft warfare
    Anti-aircraft warfare

    Anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense, is any method of engaging hostile military aircraft in defense of ground Tactical objective, ground or naval forces or denial of passage through a specific Territorial waters region, Area or anti-aircraft combat zone....
  • Man-portable air-defence system
    Man-portable air-defence system

    Man-portable air-defense systems are shoulder-launched missile surface-to-air missiles . They are typically guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters....
  • SEAD, Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses, the mission of finding and destroying SAM and AA gun installations. The SEAD mission in the United States Air Force
    United States Air Force

    The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the Military of the United States and one of the uniformed services of the United States....
     is designated “Wild Weasel
    Wild Weasel

    Wild Weasel is a nickname for aircraft of the United States Air Force tasked with the Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses mission. Initially known by the operational code "IRON HAND" when first authorized on August 12, 1965, the term "Wild Weasel" derives from Project Wild Weasel, the USAF development program for a dedicated SAM-detection a...
    ”.


External links

  • from the Federation of American Scientists
    Federation of American Scientists

    The Federation of American Scientists is a non-profit organization formed in 1945 by scientists from the Manhattan Project who felt that scientists, engineers and other innovators had an ethical obligation to bring their knowledge and experience to bear on critical national decisions....
     website