While Iran and Israel waged an air war without the slightest pity, the different missiles used are not known to the general public. Between ballistic, supersonic, hypersonic and intercontinental missiles, we can easily get lost to distinguish them. What differentiates its weapons of mass destruction?
Since the start of the war between Iran and Israel, the two armies have highlighted their air weapons. The armament vocabulary is increasingly regularly returned in the news. Armed conflicts are multiplying: war between Ukraine and Russia, war between Israel and Iran, between Israel and Hamas, Yemen, etc.
Ballistic missiles
The main characteristic of ballistic missiles is the trajectory. They follow a parabolic trajectory. An engine quite similar to that of a rocket propels them at the start of the flight. The missile comes out of the atmosphere, 100 km from the earth. It falls back on the target target. Ballistic missiles have a predictable trajectory.
When this type of weapon returns to the atmosphere, it can release several warheads. Each warhead can have a different trajectory, which makes interception more difficult. The warheads can be conventional or nuclear.
A ballistic missile becomes intercontinental when it can target a target at more than 5,500 km.
Long -range precision missiles
Unlike ballistics, cruise missiles evolve at low altitude in the atmosphere thanks to a jet engine. Their large versatility allows them to be drawn from various vectors: land installations, vehicles, ships, submarines or bombers.
They are designed to hit targets located up to 3,000 kilometers away. These devices display cruising speed between 800 and 1,000 km/h.
Hypersonic missiles
Hypersonics are able to exceed Mach 5, more than 6,000 km/h and 5 times the speed of sound. By definition, an intercontinental ballistic missile already enters this category, due to its extreme speed. But new, more sophisticated systems are developing in several countries.
Unlike predictable trajectory ballistics, hypersonic missiles are maneuverable. They have a double advantage: a cruising speed that considerably reduces the reaction time of the opposing defenses, and a trajectory capable of escaping anti -missile systems.
Two large families stand out:
- Hypersonic cruise missiles: powered throughout their flight, they evolve at very high speed in the atmosphere, under the 30 km altitude.
- Hypersonic gliders: dropped by a ballistic missile, they plunge into the atmosphere and use their lift to maneuver in an unpredictable manner towards their target.
And the supersonic?
The supersonic missiles do not exceed Mach 5. They reach a speed between 1 and 5 times that of the sound. It is less expensive and easier to produce than a hypersonic. However, its lack of speed makes it easier to detect and intercept.
