Cruise missile A cruise missile is a guided missile , the major portion of whose flight path to its target ( a land - based or sea - based target ) is conducted at approximately constant velocity ; that relies on the dynamic reaction of air for lift , and upon propulsion forces to balance drag . Cruise missiles are designed to deliver a large warhead over long distances with high accuracy . Modern cruise missiles can travel at supersonic or high subsonic speeds , are self - navigating , and can fly on a non - ballistic , extremely low altitude trajectory . They are distinct from unmanned aerial vehicle s ( UAV ) in that they are used only as weapons and not for reconnaissance . In a cruise missile , the warhead is integrated into the vehicle and the vehicle is always sacrificed in the mission . Cruise missile designs fundamentally derive from the German V - 1 of World War II . Advances in transistor and computer technology have contributed to self - correcting avionic and aeronautical designs that allow missiles to be guided in flight , as opposed to only at launch . These advances developed into guided missiles and guided bombs , and later into the modern cruise missile . In 2011 , it was estimated that a single Tomahawk cruise missile costs US $ 1 , 410 , 000 . History . The idea of an " aerial torpedo " was shown in the British 1909 film " The Airship Destroyer " , where flying torpedoes controlled wirelessly are used to bring down airships bombing London . In 1916 , Lawrence Sperry patented and built an " aerial torpedo " , a small biplane carrying a TNT charge , a Sperry autopilot and a barometric altitude control . Inspired by these experiments , the US Army developed a similar flying bomb called the Kettering Bug . Germany had also flown trials with remote - controlled aerial gliders ( Torpedogleiter ) build by Siemens - Schuckert beginning in 1915 . In the period between the World Wars the United Kingdom developed the Larynx ( Long Range Gun with Lynx Engine ) which underwent a few flight tests in the 1920s . In the Soviet Union , Sergey Korolev headed the GIRD - 06 cruise missile project from 1932 to 1939 , which used a rocket - powered boost - glide design . The 06 / III ( RP - 216 ) and 06 / IV ( RP - 212 ) contained gyroscopic guidance systems . The vehicle was designed to boost to 28 km altitude and glide a distance of 280 km , but test flights in 1934 and 1936 only reached an altitude of 500 meters . Germany first deployed cruise style missiles , during World War II . The V - 1 , often referred to as flying bomb , contained a gyroscopic guidance system and was propelled by a simple pulse - jet engine , the sound of which gave it the nickname of " buzz bomb " . Accuracy was sufficient only for use against very large targets ( the general area of a city ) , while the range of 250 km was significantly lower than that of a bomber carrying the same payload . The main advantages were speed ( while not sufficient to outperform contemporary interceptors ) and expendability . The production cost of a V - 1 was only a small fraction of that of a V - 2 supersonic ballistic missile , carrying a similar - sized warhead . Unlike the V - 2 , however , the V - 1 required stationary launch ramps which were susceptible to bombardment . Nazi Germany , in 1943 , also developed the Mistel program which can be seen as a rudimentary air - launched cruise missile , where a piloted fighter - type aircraft was mounted atop an unpiloted bomber - sized aircraft that was packed with explosives to be released while approaching the target . Bomber - launched variants of the V - 1 saw limited operational service towards the end of the war . Immediately after the war the United States Air Force had 21 different guided missile projects including would - be cruise missiles . All were cancelled by 1948 except four : the Air Material Command BANSHEE , the SM - 62 Snark , the SM - 64 Navaho , and the MGM - 1 Matador . The BANSHEE design was similar to Operation Aphrodite ; like Aphrodite it failed , and was canceled in April 1949 . During the Cold War period both the United States and the Soviet Union experimented further with the concept , deploying early cruise missiles from land , submarines and aircraft . The main outcome of the US Navy submarine missile project was the SSM - N - 8 Regulus missile , based upon the V - 1 . The US Air Force ' s first operational surface - to - surface missile was the winged , mobile , nuclear - capable MGM - 1 Matador , also similar in concept to the V - 1 . Deployment overseas began in 1954 , first to West Germany and later to the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) and South Korea . On November 7 , 1956 , U . S . Air Force Matador units in West Germany , whose missiles were capable of striking targets in the Warsaw Pact , deployed from their fixed day - to - day sites to unannounced dispersed launch locations . This alert was in response to the crisis posed by the Soviet attack on Hungary which suppressed the 1956 Hungarian Revolution . Between 1957 and 1961 the United States followed an ambitious and well - funded program to develop a nuclear - powered cruise missile , Project Pluto . It was designed to fly below the enemy ' s radar at speeds above Mach 3 and carry a number of hydrogen bomb s that it would drop on its path over enemy territory . Although the concept was proven sound and the 500 megawatt engine finished a successful test run in 1961 , no airworthy device was ever completed . The project was finally abandoned in favor of ICBM development . While ballistic missile s were the preferred weapons for land targets , heavy nuclear and conventional tipped cruise missiles were seen by the USSR as a primary weapon to destroy US naval carrier battle group s . Large submarines ( for example , Echo and Oscar classes ) were developed to carry these weapons and shadow US battle groups at sea , and large bombers ( for example , Backfire , Bear , and Blackjack models ) were equipped with the weapons in their air - launched cruise missile ( ALCM ) configuration . General design . Cruise missiles generally consist of a guidance system , payload , and propulsion system , housed in an airframe with small wings and empennage for flight control . Payloads usually consist of a conventional warhead or a nuclear warhead . Cruise missiles tend to be propelled by a jet engine , turbofan engines being preferred due to their greater efficiency at low altitude and sub - sonic speed . Guidance systems . Guidance systems also vary greatly . Low - cost systems use a radar altimeter , barometric altimeter and clock to navigate a digital strip map . More advanced systems use inertial guidance , satellite navigation and terrain contour matching ( TERCOM ) . Use of an automatic target recognition ( ATR ) algorithm / device in the guidance system increases accuracy of the missile . The Standoff Land Attack Missile features an ATR unit from General Electric . Categories . Cruise missiles can be categorized by size , speed ( subsonic or supersonic ) , and range , and whether launched from land , air , surface ship , or submarine . Often versions of the same missile are produced for different launch platforms ; sometimes air - and submarine - launched versions are a little lighter and smaller than land - and ship - launched versions . Guidance systems can vary across missiles . Some missiles can be fitted with any of a variety of navigation systems ( Inertial navigation , TERCOM , or satellite navigation ) . Larger cruise missiles can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead , while smaller ones carry only conventional warheads . Hypersonic . A hypersonic cruise missile would travel at least 5 times the speed of sound . Supersonic . These missiles travel faster than the speed of sound , usually using ramjet engines . The range is typically 100 – 500 km , but can be greater . Guidance systems vary . Examples Long - range subsonic . The US , Russia , UK , Israel , Pakistan , Turkey , Iran , China and India have developed several long - range subsonic cruise missiles . These missiles have a range of over and fly at about . They typically have a launch weight of about and can carry either a conventional or a nuclear warhead . Earlier versions of these missiles used inertial navigation ; later versions use much more accurate TERCOM and DSMAC systems . Most recent versions can use satellite navigation . Examples : Medium - range subsonic . These missiles are about the same size and weight and fly at similar speeds to the above category , but the range is ( officially ) less than 1 , 000 km . Guidance systems vary . Examples : Short - range subsonic . These are subsonic missiles which weigh around and have a range of up to . Examples : Deployment . The most common mission for cruise missiles is to attack relatively high - value targets such as ships , command bunkers , bridges and dams . Modern guidance systems permit precise attacks . ( As of 2001 ) the BGM - 109 Tomahawk missile model has become a significant part of the US naval arsenal . It gives ships and submarines an extremely accurate , long - range , conventional land attack weapon . Each costs about US $ 830 , 000 . Both the Tomahawk and the AGM - 86 were used extensively during Operation Desert Storm . The US Air Force deploys an air - launched cruise missile , the AGM - 86 . The B - 52 Stratofortress is the exclusive delivery vehicle for the AGM - 86 and AGM - 129 ACM . Both missile types are configurable for either conventional or nuclear warheads . Both Tomahawk ( as BGM - 109 ) and ALCM ( AGM - 86 ) were competing designs for the USAF . ALCM nuclear tipped cruise missile to be carried by the B - 52 heavy bomber . The USAF adopted the AGM - 86 for its bomber fleet while AGM - 109 was adapted to launch from trucks and ships and adopted by the USAF and Navy . The truck - launched versions , and also the Pershing II and SS - 20 Intermediate Range Ballistic Missiles , were later destroyed under the bilateral INF ( Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces ) treaty with the USSR . The British Royal Navy ( RN ) also operates cruise missiles , specifically the US - made Tomahawk , used by the RN ' s nuclear submarine fleet . UK conventional warhead versions were first fired in combat by the RN in 1999 , during the Kosovo War ( the US fired cruise missiles in 1991 ) . The Royal Air Force uses the Storm Shadow cruise missile on its Tornado GR4 aircraft . It is also used by France , where it is known as SCALP EG , and carried by the Armée de l ' Air ' s Mirage 2000 and Rafale aircraft . India and Russia have jointly developed the supersonic cruise missile BrahMos . There are three versions of the Brahmos : ship / land - launched , air - launched and sub - launched . The ship / land - launched version were operational as of late 2007 . The Brahmos has the capability to attack targets on land . Russia also continues to operate other cruise missiles : the SS - N - 12 Sandbox , SS - N - 19 Shipwreck , SS - N - 22 Sunburn and SS - N - 25 Switchblade . Germany and Spain operate the Taurus missile while Pakistan has developed its own cruise missile somewhat similar to Tomahawk cruise missile , named the Babur missile . Both the People ' s Republic of China and the Republic of China ( Taiwan ) have designed several cruise missile variants , such as the well - known C - 802 , some of which are capable of carrying biological , chemical , nuclear , and conventional warheads . Nuclear warhead versions . United States . The United States has deployed four nuclear cruise missiles at one time or another . " See also " : Russia . Russia has Kh - 55SM cruise missiles , with similar to US AGM - 129 range of 3000 km , but are able to carry more powerful warhead of 200 kt . They are equipped with a TERCOM system which allows them to cruise at an altitude lower than 110 meters at subsonic speeds while obtaining a CEP accuracy of 15 meters with an Inertial navigation system . They are air - launched from either Tupolev Tu - 95 s , Tupolev Tu - 22M s , or Tupolev Tu - 160 s , each able to carry 16 for the Tu - 95 , 12 for the Tu - 160 , and 4 for the Tu - 22M . A stealth version of the missile , the Kh - 101 is in development . It has similar qualities as the Kh - 55 , except that its range has been extended to 5 , 000 km , equipped with a 1 , 000 kg conventional warhead , and has stealth features which reduces its probability of intercept . France . The French Force de Frappe nuclear forces include both land and sea based bombers with Air - Sol Moyenne Portée high speed medium range nuclear cruise missiles . Two models are in use , ASMP and a newer ASMP - A . Approximately 60 nuclear missiles are in service , 50 land based and 10 sea based . Israel . The Israeli Defense Forces reportedly deploy the medium - range air - launched Popeye Turbo ALCM and the Popeye Turbo SLCM medium - long range cruise missile with nuclear warheads on Dolphin class submarine s . Efficiency in modern warfare . Currently cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single - use weapons , up to several million dollars apiece . One consequence of this is that its users face difficult choices in targeting , to avoid expending the missiles on targets of low value . For instance during Operation Enduring Freedom the United States attacked targets of very low monetary value with cruise missiles , which led many to question the efficiency of the weapon . However , proponents of the cruise missile counter that the same argument applies to other types of UAV s : they are cheaper than human pilots when total training and infrastructure costs are taken into account , not to mention the risk of loss of personnel . As demonstrated in Operation Odyssey Dawn and prior conflicts , cruise missiles are much more difficult to detect and intercept than other aerial assets , suiting them to attacks against static air defense systems .