ILLUSTRATES Thales Molina
QUESTION Pedro Bueno, Paty do Alferes, RJ
A missile is, in short, a set of explosives embedded in a motorized and controllable vehicle. The name comes from the Latin verb mittere, which means «to send». The first model used on a large scale was the V-1 of Nazi Germany. But it was during the Cold War that they became popular. They arrived in the 1980s and 1990s as the most important weapons, because of the relative accuracy with which they could hit a specific target thousands of kilometers away. Among them was the Tomahawk model, famous in the first Gulf War (1990-1991), still widely used and the basis of the infographic on this page.
INFOGRAPHIC
Learn about the main components of the Tomahawk
A) ENGINE
The farther a missile travels, the faster it must be. Therefore, the more powerful the engine, and the more fuel it uses – the full tank alone accounts for 89% of the Tomahawk’s total weight. The jet engine uses liquid fuel, the TH-dimer, but its propulsion system needs solid fuel, like that used in the old NASA space shuttles.
B) STEERING SYSTEM
To travel at low altitudes towards the target, the weapon is equipped with a guidance system that includes an altimeter and a GPS. A terrain analysis software works in real time to cross this information with the three-dimensional map of the route, produced in advance (by the way, one of the problems of this model is that it needs previous data).
C) WAR
The weapon’s raison d’être is the warhead. The explosives on a cruise missile can be chemical, biological, nuclear or incendiary. On Tomahawk, it’s the last two options. They are located at the end, with a layer of titanium that prevents them from exploding prematurely. There’s also a ceramic cover to bypass radars.
D) FLIGHT SYSTEM
To give support and precision to the path, the Tomahawk has two wings, which open after launch. Unlike an ordinary plane, the flight system uses all its surfaces to make adjustments to the route: it can, for example, rotate around its own axis. Corrections may be required by a ground technician or even the autopilot. Ballistic missiles trace a parabola towards the target, while cruise missiles fly parallel to the ground.
E) SIGHTING SYSTEM
When approaching the final objective, the aiming system DSMAC (Digital Scene Matching Area Correlation) is triggered. It compares ground objects with extremely detailed images of the location in its memory bank. Thus, it performs the last adjustments on the route, guaranteeing incredible precision: a missile of this model can hit a fixed target of the same size. of a house
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SPACE IS THE LIMIT
The three stages of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile such as the Soviet R-7
1. Release: Occurs from fixed locations on the ground or on aircraft, ships or submarines. It is from this base that it is monitored
2. Free flight: Shaped like a parabola, it can reach up to 1,200 km above the ground. Represents a large part of the flight time
3. Reentry: The weapon returns to the surface with increasing speed. After a few seconds, the explosion rolls
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COMPARISON BETWEEN DIFFERENT MODELS
SOURCESBooksThe Evolution of the Cruise Missileby Kenneth P. Werrel, andThe Tomahawk Cruise Missileby Matthew Pitt, and Raytheon website