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Missiles, Cruise
A cruise missile is a guided missile, usually propelled by a jet engine, armed with a conventional or nuclear warhead, that attack targets over long distances with high accuracy. This entry describes the development and features of cruise missiles worldwide.
General Description
Cruise missiles generally have a guidance system, warhead, and propulsion system inside of an airframe that has small wings and a tail assembly for lift and stability. The propulsion system is usually a turbofan jet engine. Cruise missiles can carry a conventional, nuclear, chemical, or biological warhead or submunitions, weighing about 1,000 pounds, at supersonic or high subsonic speeds on a nonballistic, extremely low-altitude trajectory. Cruise missiles have a range of less than 105 kilometers (65 miles) up to 3,000 kilometers (1,864 miles).
Cruise missiles utilize ...
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