Unguided surface-to-surface missile
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An unguided surface-to-surface missile is usually referred to as a rocket (for example, an RPG-7 or M72 LAW is an anti-tank rocket whereas a BGM-71 TOW or AT-2 Swatter is an anti-tank guided missile).
Surface-to-surface missiles are usually broken down into a number of categories:
- ballistic missiles travel in a high trajectory, motor burns out partway through flight
- tactical SSMs are usually short-range ballistic missiles (SRBMs), <1,000 km (600 mi)
- strategic SSMs are usually:
Different parties break down missile type by the range differently. For example, the United States Department of Defense (U.S. DoD) has no definition for LRBM and thus defines ICBM as those with a range greater than 5,500 km (3500 mi). The International Institute for Strategic Studies does not define LRBM either, but their definition of SRBM is somewhat shorter than that of the U.S. DoD. Figures above are thus representative but not definitive.
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