I have just asked these questions in the Pentagon, in the White House, in offices of key scientists across the country and aboard the submarines that prowl for months underwater, with neat rows of green launch tubes which contain Polaris missiles and which are affectionately known as `` Sherwood Forest ''.

Its radar screens would register Soviet missiles shortly after they are launched against the United States.

Notable in this category are the Jupiter and Thor intermediate range ballistic missiles, which have been successfully developed, produced, and deployed, but the relative importance of which has diminished with the increasing availability of the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile.

Because of this, it would appear inevitable that an increasing percentage of strategic missiles will seek self-protection in mobility -- at least until missile defenses are perfected which have an exceedingly high kill probability.

* 2007 – 2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident: six US cruise missiles armed with nuclear warheads are flown without proper authorization from Minot Air Force Base to Barksdale Air Force Base.

The level of armour protection between AFVs varies greatly-a main battle tank will normally be designed to take hits from other tank guns and anti-tank missiles, whilst light reconnaissance vehicles are often only armoured " just in case ".

But there are still dedicated anti-tank vehicles with very heavy long-range missiles, and ones intended for airborne use.

Both the F-14 Tomcat and AIM-54 Phoenix missile continue in the service of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force, although the operational abilities of these aircraft and the missiles are questionable, since the US refused to supply spare parts and maintenance after the 1979 revolution ; except for a brief period during the Iran-Contra Affair.

Most Spruance-class destroyers were later modified to include the Mk 41 VLS, these launchers are capable of carrying a mixture of the VL-ASROC, the Tomahawk TLAM, and other missiles.

Indirect combat through the use of aircraft and missiles now comprise of a large portion of wars in place of battles, where battles are now mostly reserved for capturing cities.

Although the Bizerte ( Type PR 48 large patrol craft ) class L ' Audacieux is fitted for SS 12M missiles these are not embarked and its operational status is in some doubt, having not been reported at sea since 1995.

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.

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.

Approximately 60 nuclear missiles are in service, 50 land based and 10 sea based.

Currently cruise missiles are among the most expensive of single-use weapons, up to several million dollars apiece.

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.

Most modern cannon are similar to those used in the Second World War, although the importance of the larger caliber weapons has declined with the development of missiles.

Opponents argue that CVBGs are increasingly vulnerable to arsenal ships and cruise missiles, especially those with supersonic flight and the ability to perform radical trajectory changes to avoid anti-missile systems.

Modern destroyers, also known as guided missile destroyers, are equivalent in tonnage but vastly superior in firepower to cruisers of the World War II era, capable of carrying nuclear missiles.

Guided missile destroyers such as the Arleigh Burke class are actually larger and more heavily armed than most previous ships classified as guided missile cruisers, due to their massive size at long, displacement ( 9200 tons ) and armament of over 90 missiles.

This excludes liquids or gels which are spontaneously flammable when exposed to water or the atmosphere, which belong in group H. Examples include liquid or gel filled incendiary ammunition, fuel-air explosive ( FAE ) devices, and flammable liquid fueled missiles.

Air-to-air missiles largely replaced guns and rockets in the early 1960s since both were believed unusable at the speeds being attained, however the Vietnam War showed that guns still had a role to play and most fighters built since then are fitted with cannon ( typically between 20 and 30 mm in caliber ) as an adjunct to missiles.

Fins are also seen used as e. g., fletching on arrows and at the rear of some bombs, missiles, rockets, and self-propelled torpedoes.

In many early period English campaigns, the Welsh used the longbow in ambushes, often at point blank range that allowed their missiles to penetrate armour and generally do a lot of damage.

These stages may all be of similar types or may include a mix of engine types-for example, ground-launched cruise missiles often have a rocket booster for launching and a jet engine for sustained flight.

For units equipped with most types of APC or any type of IFV, fire support weapons such as machine guns, autocannons, small-bore direct-fire howitzers, and even anti-tank guided missiles are often mounted directly on the infantry's own transport vehicles.

| missiles = Non-US aircraft carry a variety of guided missiles, including the AGM-65 Maverick ( often used in the anti-ship role ) and dedicated anti-ship missiles.

" This does not apply when facing certain extremely advanced weaponry, often created after the Doctor's Type 40 TARDIS, such as Dalek missiles (" The Parting of the Ways "), for which the TARDIS requires additional shielding.

Ballistic missiles can vary widely in range and use, and are often divided into categories based on range.

Short-and medium-range missiles are often collectively referred to as theater or tactical ballistic missiles ( TBMs ).

In the military, this type of activity is often classed as " mission readiness ", and seeks to define which assets are available and for which type of mission ; a classic example is whether aircraft on board an aircraft carrier are equipped with bombs for ground support or missiles for defense.

Also included among combat aircraft are long-range maritime patrol aircraft, such as the Hawker Siddeley Nimrod and the S-3 Viking that are often equipped to attack with anti-ship missiles and anti-submarine weapons.

Similarly, missile-armed units in Earth 2150 are at a serious disadvantage when the opponent is on high ground because the missiles often hit the cliffside, even in the case when the attacker is a missile-armed helicopter.

Deck-mounted torpedo launchers are usually designed for a specific type of torpedo, while submarine torpedo tubes are general-purpose launchers, and are often also capable of deploying mines and cruise missiles.

They usually carried long-range or medium-range air-to-air missiles, and often had no bombing capability.

These planes have the advantage over satellites that they can usually produce more detailed photographs and can be placed over the target more quickly, more often, and more cheaply, but have the disadvantage of possibly being intercepted by aircraft or missiles such as in the 1960 U-2 incident.

However, they are often equipped with air-to-air missiles for self-defense.

However, the size of the radar antenna is limited by the small diameter of missiles, limiting its range which typically means such missiles are launched at a predicted future location of the target, often relying on separate guidance systems such as Global Positioning System, inertial guidance, or a mid-course update from either the launching aircraft or other system that can communicate with the missile to get the missile close to the target.

But when better-trained Ethiopian Su-27 pilots gave chase and attacked with short-range R-73 ( AA-11 Archer ) missiles, the results were often deadly to the Eritrean aircraft.

Very often heavy fire, anti-tank missiles, and grenades had been fired on IDF forces and outposts.

A close-in weapon system ( CIWS ), often pronounced sea-whiz, is a naval shipboard point-defense weapon for detecting and destroying at short range incoming anti-ship missiles and enemy aircraft which have penetrated the outer defenses.

Also a typical feature in all depicted eras is the sudden switch from hunter to hunted ; while stalking enemy ships or carrying deadly nuclear missiles, the submarine often becomes, within moments, the hunted victim of overwhelming attack, the crew fleeing for its collective life.