Guided Missile
Introduction
Historically, the term "missile" refers to any object or projectile that is forcibly thrown, launched, or propelled at a target.
Nowadays its almost exclusively used to refer to the guided metal poles with flame shooting out the back that get launched from military planes, boats, and various land vehicles.
Design
The Problem to Solve
A missile is a closed system that needs to accomplish one task, and should be designed as so. Starting with the planning.
Before building anything, you should first think about what your missile will be trying to accomplish. A short range air to air and a sea skimming AShM are both missiles, but they share very little things in common. You should be always designing your missile for the target.
Design Constraints
Once you know what your missile needs to do, you can use that to define the set of design goals and constraints to follow during the design process.
Goals and constraints may include but are not limited to:
- Range
- Speed
- Maneuverability
- Launch platform
These are all things that will affect your final design, and should be set before building.