Un misil es un proyectil autopropulsado que puede ser guiado durante toda o parte de su trayectoria, propulsado por cohete o motor de reacción. Generalmente los misiles son usados como arma y tienen una o más cabezas de guerra explosivas, aunque también pueden usarse otros tipos de arma en el misil. Los hay de tamaños y alcance muy variados, desde los misiles antitanque que pueden ser llevados y lanzados por una sola persona hasta los enormes misiles balísticos intercontinentales.

Leer el artículo completo en Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA

In modern usage, a missile is a self-propelled precision-guided munition system, as opposed to an unguided self-propelled munition, referred to as a rocket (although these too can also be guided). Missiles have four system components: targeting and/or missile guidance, flight system, engine, and warhead. Missiles come in types adapted for different purposes: surface-to-surface and air-to-surface missiles (ballistic, cruise, anti-ship, anti-tank, etc.), surface-to-air missiles (and anti-ballistic), air-to-air missiles, and anti-satellite weapons. All known existing missiles are designed to be propelled during powered flight by chemical reactions inside a rocket engine, jet engine, or other type of engine. Non-self-propelled airborne explosive devices are generally referred to as shells and usually have a shorter range than missiles. In ordinary British-English usage predating guided weapons, a missile is "any thrown object", such as objects thrown at players by rowdy spectators at a sporting event.

Leer el artículo completo en Wikipedia · CC-BY-SA