What’s the difference between a cruise missile and a ballistic missile?
Alex Hollings | January 7, 2022
It’s not at all uncommon to see news stories featuring discussions about missile platforms and their capabilities, from Darpa’s recent test of a hypersonic cruise missile to discussions about the destructive power of Russia’s latest intercontinental ballistic missile, the RS-28 Sarmat. As a result, you may have found yourself wondering… what exactly is the difference between a ballistic missile and a cruise missile?
In the interest of brevity, you can really sum up the difference between these types of weapons with the trajectory that they follow. A ballistic missile follows a “ballistic flight path,” which often includes traveling along a long arc, whereas a cruise missile tends to follow a straighter, lower altitude trajectory. Another easy (if not exactly precise) way to think about them is that ballistic missiles are more like rockets, while cruise missiles are more like aircraft or drones.
While both ballistic and cruise missiles can carry nuclear payloads, the most commonly understood (and feared) nuclear weapon delivery vehicle of the modern era falls under the ballistic category: the ICBM. And while there are many variations in the employment of different sorts of ballistic missiles, the ICBM model offers a simple way to appreciate the concept behind a “ballistic flight path.”
https://www.sandboxx.us/blog/whats-the-difference-between-a-cruise-missile-and-a-ballistic-missile/
