Context: Russia strikes Ukraine with Hypersonic & cruise missile near the front lines of fighting.
Cruise missile:
- It is a self-guided, terrestrial and short-range missile with moderate payload capacity.
- They are unmanned vehicles that are propelled by jet engines, much like an airplane. They can be launched from ground, air, or sea platforms.
- Cruise missiles remain within the atmosphere for the duration of their flight and can fly as low as a few meters off the ground.
- Flying low to the surface of the earth expends more fuel but makes a cruise missile very difficult to detect.
Types of cruise missiles:
- Hypersonic missiles: They fly at speeds of at least Mach 5 and are highly maneuverable and able to change course during flight. They are different from ballistic missiles, which can also travel at hypersonic speeds (of at least Mach 5) but have set trajectories and limited maneuverability.
- Supersonic missiles: They travel at a speed of around 2-3 Mach i.e., it travels a kilometre approximately in a second. E.g., Brahmos (developed by India & Russia).
- Subsonic missiles: They fly at speed lesser than that of sound. It travels at a speed of around 0.8 Mach. E.g., Nirbhay – indigenously developed by India.