Missile

Guided missiles work by tracking the location of the moving target in space by certain methods (eg. using a radar or following its heat signature), chasing it down and then finally hitting it with accuracy. Guided systems in missiles can be of various types, which serve different operational purposes.

Missiles have been around for quite some time now. In fact, humans have been using missiles – in various forms – for centuries. However, just as it happens with everything else, the technology of missiles has also improved dramatically over the past century. On today’s high-tech battlefields, we have guided missiles packed with explosive warheads that have become the devastating weapon of choice to destroy targets swiftly and with amazing accuracy.

In this article, we’re going to explain how guided missiles work and how they follow moving targets in non-straight trajectories to hit them with incredible precision.

A missile (used for the purposes of warfare) is basically a flying bomb that strikes its target with incredible precision. Earlier, satellites were simply larger and more powerful versions of regular bullets; they followed a relatively straight trajectory to hit their target, i.e., they didn’t have a system that could ‘guide’ them. However, thanks to technological development, there are now dedicated guidance systems in missiles that make them ‘pursue’ their chosen target until a hit is achieved.