JP 3-01 Countering Air and Missile Threats - Defense Innovation ...

Appendix D
4. Cruise Missiles
a. A CM is a guided missile, the major portion of whose flight path to its target is
conducted at approximately constant velocity and depends on the dynamic reaction of air for
lift and upon propulsion forces to balance drag. CMs are unmanned, self-propelled vehicles
that sustain flight through the use of aerodynamic lift over most of their flight. CMs usually
navigate autonomously to targets and, depending on their sophistication, can position
themselves through a number of update methods along extended flight routes. CMs are
capable of delivering the full complement of warheads from conventional to WMD.
b. Threat CMs
(1) Very few nations currently possess sophisticated CMs such as the Navy TLAM
or the Air Force conventional air launched cruise missile (ALCM). Employment by
developed nations has been limited. The majority of CMs in potential threat nations are
short-range anti-ship/coastal defense CMs with ranges in excess of 100 nautical miles. Some
countries are modifying anti-ship CMs for a land attack role.
(2) Future CM technology will build on existing low observable, sensor defeating
designs using radar absorbing materials and composite materials such as Kevlar or carbon
fiber to further reduce their radar cross-sections and render them more difficult to detect.
CMs generally possess some of the following features:
(a) Radar cross-section under 1 square meter (-10 decibel and lower).
(b) Low infrared signature (varies by type of CM).
(c) Acoustic signature (varies by type of CM).
(d) Cruise altitude of 100 feet to 2000 feet above ground level or 50,000 feet
above mean sea level.
(e) Range of 100 to 1000 nautical miles.
(f) Payload of 200 to 1000 pounds.
(g) Speed range of high subsonic (low altitude) or supersonic (high altitude).
(h) Air-, land-, or sea-launched.
c. Threat CM Employment
(1) CMs put stress on AD systems because they are difficult for theater sensors and
weapons systems to detect, identify, track, acquire, and destroy. CMs are more difficult to
detect than the larger BMs because they do not give off as large a heat signature at launch,
fly at very low altitudes during their attack legs, and normally have a smaller radar crosssection.
Ground-based surveillance radars have a difficult time detecting CMs when in low
level flight (following terrain contours) because of line-of-sight restrictions created by radar
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