UNIT 2

Airframe components of
Rockets
&
Missiles

Airframe:

Physical structure carries warhead to enemy,

contains guidance, propulsion and control system.

A. Propulsion System: Provides the required energy.

B. Control System: 2 functions maintains a stable
flight and translates commands of guidance
system into motion of the control surface.

C. Guidance System: Determine whether or not the

missile in on course to reach the target.

o Body Configuration
Divided into three
major sections
Fore Body or Nose
Mid section or
Main body
Aft or Tail Section
Fins

Fore Body Or Nose

Variety of Shapes Conical, Hemispherical or

Power series (parabolic nose cone).

These shapes are used in missiles with super

sonic speed.
Selection of shapes is based on aerodynamic

guidance and structural considerations.

Hemispherical nose has very high drag but

performance is excellent (structural integrity

& aerodynamic heating).

Conical Fore Bodies:

Similar in appearance (Oblique shock formed) to flow over a

wedge but are different in nature.

Flow aft shock wave are different depending on whether the
flow is 2-d to 3-d.

Ogival Forebody:
More frequently used.
Similar to cone except that the planform shape is formed by an

arc of circle instead of straight line.

Hemispherical Fore body:

Used in missiles with infrared seekers.
Extremely high drag is created.

MID SECTION:
Cylindrical in shapes.
Shape is advantageous drag is less,
manufacturing is easy and load carrying
capacity.
BOAT TAIL SECTION:
Tapered portion of the aft section.
Purpose is to decrease the drag of a body.
Boat tailing reduces the base area and thus
decreases the drag.

FINS:
The purpose of putting fins on the rocket is to

provide stability, provide lift and control the

flight path of the missile. The plan form of fins
of a rocket is of different types. They are of
clipped tip delta, rectangular, triangular,
trapezoidal etc.

AERODYNAMIC SURFACES OF
MISSILES:
1.
SUPERSONIC WING CROSS SECTIONAL SHAPES
The various supersonic wings cross sectional shapes are,
Double wedge
Modified double wedge and
Biconvex

1.
Double wedge :
The double wedge offers a least drag but lacks strength.

2.

Modified double wedge:

The modified double wedge has relatively low drag and comparatively stronger

than the latter one.

3. Biconvex:
The biconvex causes considerable drag but it is the strongest of the three
designs. The biconvex shape has a slight advantage in minimum drag for unit
cross sectional strength in addition to the absence of sharp corner. The sharp
corners affect the flow conditions over the surface. The biconvex section also
provides larger wedge angles at the leading and trailing edges.


SUPERSONIC
WING PLAN
(a) CLIPPED TIP DELTA
(b) DELTA (or) TRIANGULAR
FORMS:
(c) RECTANGULAR
(d) RECTAGULAR WITH RAKE

The main difference between the subsonic and

supersonic types of wing plan forms is the
symmetry about the chord and sharpness of the
leading edge. For the supersonic case, the need
for sharp leading edge is to encounter the type
of flow and pressure distribution while travelling
faster than speed of sound.

AERODYNAMIC CONTROLS OF A
Aerodynamic control is the connecting link
MISSILE:

between the guidance system and the flight

path of the missile.
The control surface must move with enough
force to produce the necessary change of
direction.
they make must maintain the balance and
centre of gravity of the missile
The control surface must also be positioned to
meet variations in lift and drag at different
flight speeds

ARRAGEMENTS OF CONTROL
SURFACES IN A MISSILE

(a) CONVENTIONAL

(b) H TYPE (or) DOUBLE RUDDER

The types of aerodynamic controls of a missile are,

Canard control
Wing control
Tail control
Unconventional control

(c) V-TAIL

Classification
of
Missiles are generally classified on the basis of their
Type, Launch Mode, Range, Propulsion, Warhead
Missile
and Guidance Systems.
Type:
Cruise Missile
Ballistic Missile
Launch Mode:
Surface-to-Surface Missile
Surface-to-Air Missile
Surface (Coast)-to-Sea Missile
Air-to-Air Missile

Air-to-Surface Missile
Sea-to-Sea Missile
Sea-to-Surface (Coast) Missile
Anti-Tank Missile

Range:
Short Range Missile
Medium Range Missile
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

Propulsion:
Solid Propulsion
Liquid Propulsion
Hybrid Propulsion
Ramjet
Scramjet
Cryogenic
Warhead:
Conventional
Strategic

Guidance Systems:
Wire Guidance
Command Guidance
Terrain Comparison Guidance
Terrestrial Guidance
Inertial Guidance
Beam Rider Guidance
Laser Guidance
RF and GPS Reference

(i) Cruise
Missile:
A cruise missile
is an
unmanned selfOn
the
basis
of
Type:
propelled (till the time of impact) guided vehicle that
sustains flight through aerodynamic lift for most of its
flight path and whose primary mission is to place an
ordnance or special payload on a target. They fly within
the earths atmosphere and use jet engine technology.
These vehicles vary greatly in their speed and ability to
penetrate defences. Cruise missiles can be categorised
by size, speed (subsonic or supersonic), range and
whether launched from land, air, surface ship or
submarine.
Depending upon the speed such missiles are classified
as:
1) Subsonic cruise missile
2)Supersonic cruise missile
3)Hypersonic cruise missile

(ii) Ballistic Missile:

A ballistic missile is a missile that has a ballistic

trajectory over most of its flight path, regardless

of whether or not it is a weapon-delivery vehicle.
Ballistic missiles are categorized according to
their range, maximum distance measured along
the surface of earth's ellipsoid from the point of
launch to the point of impact of the last element
of their payload. These missiles carry a huge
payload. The carriage of a deadly warhead is
justified by the distance the missile travels.
Ballistic missiles can be launched from ships and
land based facilities. For example, Prithvi I, Prithvi
II etc.

On
the
basis
of
Launch
Surface-to-Surface Missile: A surface-to-surface
missile is a guided projectile launched from a
Mode:
hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or
fixed installation. It is often powered by a rocket
motor or sometimes fired by an explosive charge
since the launch platform is stationary.
Surface-to-Air Missile: A surface-to-air missile is

designed for launch from the ground to destroy

aerial targets like aircrafts, helicopters and even
ballistic missiles. These missiles are generally
called air defence systems as they defend any
aerial attacks by the enemy

Surface (Coast)-to-Sea Missile: A surface

(coast)-to-sea missile is designed to be launched

from land to ship in the sea as targets.
Air-to-Air Missile: An air-to-air missile is launched

from an aircraft to destroy the enemy aircraft. The

missile flies at a speed of 4 Mach.
Air-to-Surface Missile: An air-to-surface missile

is designed for launch from military aircraft and

strikes ground targets on land, at sea or both. The
missiles are basically guided via laser guidance,
infrared guidance and optical guidance or via GPS
signals. The type of guidance depends on the type
of target.

Sea-to-Sea Missile: A sea-to-sea missile is

designed for launch from one ship to another

ship.
Sea-to-Surface

(Coast) Missile: A sea-tosurface missile is designed for launch from ship

to land based targets.

Anti-Tank Missile: An anti-tank missile is a

guided missile primarily designed to hit and

destroy heavily-armoured tanks and other
armoured fighting vehicles. Anti-tank missiles
could be launched from aircraft, helicopters,
tanks and also from shoulder mounted launcher.

On the basis of Range:

This type of classification is based on maximum
range achieved by the missiles. The basic
classification is as follows:
Short Range Missile
Medium Range Missile
Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile
Intercontinental Ballistic Missile

On the basis of Warhead:

(i) Conventional Warhead: A conventional

warhead contains high energy explosives. It is

filled with a chemi al explosive and relies on the
detonation of the explosive and the resulting
metal casing fragmentation as kill mechanisms.
(ii) Strategic Warhead: In a strategic

warhead, radio active materials are present and

when triggered they exhibit huge radio activity
that can wipe out even cities. They are
generally designed for mass annihilation.