ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Cruise MissileThe destroyer USS Porter (DDG78) launches a Tomahawk Land Attack Missile toward Iraq on March 22, 2003, during Operation Iraqi Freedom; the missilestruck a government communications site in Baghdad. AP/WIDE WORLD PHOTOS.pilotless airplane, these missiles have powerful guidancesystems that make them capable of hitting precise targetsfrom a great distance. Operated by the United States AirForce and Navy, cruise missiles can be deployed fromaircraft, submarines, and destroyers.Of the two most notable types of cruise missile, theTomahawk, most often used by the Navy, is 18 feet, 3inches (5.56 m) long and weighs 2,900 pounds (1,315 kg).The Air Force AGM-86B/C weighs 3,150 pounds (1,429 kg)and measures 20 feet, 9 inches (6.3 m). The AGM, firstdeployed (as an 86B) in December 1982, is an air-togroundstrategic cruise missile, while the Tomahawk,which first saw service in 1986, is a long-range subsoniccruise missile for striking high-value or heavily defendedland targets. Both have gone through several changes,including the introduction of the Tactical Tomahawk, to belaunched from forward-deployed ships and submarines,in 2004.A cruise missile includes a solid rocket booster, whichmakes up approximately fifteen percent of its weight atEncyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Securitylaunch. Once it has burned its fuel, the booster falls awayand the missile’s wings, tail fins, and air inlet unfold. Fromthat point until it reaches its target, the missile is poweredby its turbofan engine. In flight, the cruise missile has aspeed of about 550 miles per hour (880 kph).Neither size nor speed nor rocket booster systemsdefine the cruise missile as much as its accuracy. TheTomahawk has a range of 870 nautical miles (1,000 statutemiles, or 1,609 km), and the AGM more than 1,500 miles(2,400 km) or more—the exact figure is classified—yetboth are capable of hitting a target the size of a truck.Guiding these missiles are four different systems: theinertial guidance system, which detects changes in themissile’s motion; terrain contour matching, which appliesa three-dimensional database of the terrain over which themissile flies; global positioning system (GPS), which includesboth military satellites and an onboard GPS receiver;and digital scene matching area correlation, whichswitches on once the missile nears its target, using animage correlator and a camera to locate the target.285