Read the articles and answer the questions below.

Rockets and missile systems are any of a variety of weapons systems that deliver explosive warheads to their targets by means of rocket propulsion.

Rocket is a general term used broadly to describe a variety of jet-propelled missiles in which forward motion results from reaction to the rearward ejection of matter (usually hot gases) at high velocity. The propulsive jet of gases usually consists of the combustion products of solid or liquid propellants.

In a more restrictive sense, rocket propulsion is a unique member of the family of jet-propulsion engines that includes turbojet, pulse-jet, and ramjet systems. The rocket engine is different from these in that the elements of its propulsive jet (that is, the fuel and oxidizer) are self-contained within the vehicle. Therefore, the thrust produced is independent of the medium through which the vehicle travels, making the rocket engine capable of flight beyond the atmosphere or propulsion underwater. The turbojet, pulse-jet, and ramjet engines, on the other hand, carry only their fuel and depend on the oxygen content of the air for burning. For this reason, these varieties of jet engine are called air-breathing and are limited to operation within the Earth’s atmosphere.

For the purposes of this article, a rocket engine is a self-contained (i.e., non-air-breathing) propulsion system of the type described above, while the term rocket refers to any free-flight (unguided) missile of the types used since the beginning of rocketry. A guided missile is broadly any military missile that is capable of being guided or directed to a target after having been launched. Tactical guided missiles are shorter-ranged weapons designed for use in the immediate combat area. Long-range, or strategic, guided missiles are of two types, cruise and ballistic. Cruise missiles are powered by air-breathing engines that provide almost continuous propulsion along a low, level flight path. A ballistic missile is propelled by a rocket engine for only the first part of its flight; for the rest of the flight the unpowered missile follows an arcing trajectory, small adjustments being made by its guidance mechanism. Strategic missiles usually carry nuclear warheads, while tactical missiles usually carry high explosives.

 

1. What causes missiles to fly forward?

2. What does the propulsive jet of gases consist of?

3. What type of rocket propulsion is used for missiles?

4. How is a rocket engine different from the other types of engines?

5. Why don’t we use turbojet, pulse-jet and ramjet engines for some missiles?

6. Why is the rocket engine for missiles called self-contained?

7. What is a guided missile?

8. What is a tactical missile?

9. What are the two types of long-range guided missiles?

10. What is the difference between cruise missiles and ballistic ones?

11. Is there any difference between strategic missile and tactical ones?

 

Missiles

A missile is a rocket-propelled weapon designed to deliver an explosive warhead with great accuracy at high speed. Missiles vary from small tactical weapons that are effective out to only a few hundred feet to much larger strategic weapons that have ranges of several thousand miles. Almost all missiles contain some form of guidance and control mechanism and are therefore often referred to as guided missiles. An unguided military missile, as well as any launch vehicle used to sound the upper atmosphere or place a satellite in space, is usually referred to as a rocket. A propeller-driven underwater missile is called a torpedo, and a guided missile powered along a low level flight path by an air-breathing jet engine is called a cruise missile.

Types

Tactical guided missiles are generally categorized according to the location of the launch platform and target. There are five types, air-to-air, air-to-surface, surface-to-air, antiship, and antitank, or assault.

Ballistic missiles are most often categorized as short-range, medium-range, intermediate-range, and intercontinental ballistic missiles (SRBMs, MRBMs, IRBMs, and ICBMs). SRBMs are effective to 300 miles (480 km), MRBMs from 300 to 600 miles (480 to 965 km), IRBMs from 600 to 3,300 miles (965 to 5,310 km), and ICBMs more than 3,300 miles (5,310 km).

ICBMs are usually launched from silos, which are reinforced canisters sunk into the ground for protection. Shorter-range ballistic missiles and some ICBMs are launched from railroad cars or wheeled trailers that offer the protection of mobility. “Hot-launched” ballistic missiles are launched directly from their canisters, while “cold-launched” missiles are ejected from the canisters by compressed gas before the rocket engines ignite. Submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) are ejected in this manner to the ocean surface from tubes within the submerged vessel.

1. What is unguided military missile referred to?

2. What is a torpedo?

3. What are cruise missiles powered by?

4. How can tactical guided missiles be categorized?

5. How can ballistic missiles be categorized?

Word list

missile [ ˈmɪsaɪl] 1) воен. реактивный снаряд; ракета

to fire, launch, guide a missile – запустить ракету

to intercept a missile - перехватить ракету

air-to-air missile - ракета "воздух-воздух"

air-to-ground missile - ракета "воздух-земля"

air-to-surface missile - ракета "воздух-земля

antiaircraft missile - ракета "земля-воздух"

antimissile missile - противоракета, антиракета

ballistic missile - баллистическая ракета

cruise missile - крылатая ракета

ground-to-air missile - ракета "земля-воздух"

ground-to-ground missile - ракета "земля-земля"

guided missile - управляемая ракета

intercontinental ballistic missile - межконтинентальная баллистическая ракета

intermediate - range missile - ракета среднего действия, ракета средней дальности

long - range missile - ракета дальнего радиуса действия, стратегическая ракета

medium - range missile - ракета среднего действия

nuclear missile - ядерная ракета

short - range missile - ракета короткого действия, тактическая ракета

strategic missile - ракета дальнего действия, стратегическая ракета

surface-to-air missile - ракета "земля-воздух"

surface-to-surface missile - ракета "земля-земля"

tactical missile - ракета короткого действия, тактическая ракета
to deliver warheads – доставлять боеголовки

rocket propulsion - ракетный двигатель

jet - propelled missiles [ˏdʒetprəˊpeld] ракета с реакти́вным дви́гателем;

ramjet - прямоточный воздушно-реактивный двигатель

pulse - jet - пульсирующийвоздушно - реактивныйдвигатель

self-contained- автономный

air-breathing - воздушно-реактивный

immediate combat area - район боевых действий, ближний бой

silo [ˈsaɪləʊ] – ракетная шахта