A land-attack missile (LAM) is a naval surface-to-surface missile that is capable of effectively attacking targets ashore, unlike specialized anti-ship missiles, which are optimized for striking other ships. Some dual-role missiles are suitable for both missions.

Like long-range anti-ship missiles, land-attack missiles are usually turbojet or turbofan powered cruise missiles. To prevent early detection and counter-measures, they usually fly near the ground at very low altitude, employing terrain-following techniques, either with terrain-following radar or with precise navigation system, like GPS, combined with a stored map of obstacles and ground elevation data (TERCOM).

Land-attack missiles are usually programmed before launch to follow a set of way-points up to the target. Terminal guidance can be done with active radar homing, passive radar or electronic warfare support measures, infrared homing or optical guidance, or the (fixed) target was predesignated with as final way-point.

Some missiles allow mid-course updates after launch and some may even send information back to the launch platform or other units.

List of missiles

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Specific types of LAMs (current, past and under development)
Name Origin Maximum Range
3M22 Zircon   Russia 1,000 kilometres (620 mi)
3M-51 Alfa   Russia 250 kilometres (160 mi)
3M-54 Kalibr   Russia 4,500 kilometres (2,800 mi)
BGM-109 Tomahawk   United States 1,666 kilometres (1,035 mi)[1]
BrahMos   India /   Russia 900 kilometres (560 mi) (Surface-launched version)
BrahMos-II   India /   Russia 1,500 kilometres (930 mi)
Nirbhay   India 1,500 kilometres (930 mi)
CJ-10   China 1,500 kilometres (930 mi)
CJ-100   China 2,000–3,000 kilometres (1,200–1,900 mi)
Hermes (missile)   Russia 100 kilometres (62 mi)
Hongniao   China 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi)
Hyunmoo-3   South Korea 1,500 kilometres (930 mi) (Hyunmoo-3C)
Hypersonic Air-breathing Weapon Concept   United States >560 kilometres (350 mi)[2][3]
Hsiung Feng IIE   Taiwan >1,200 kilometres (750 mi)[4]
Hsiung Feng III   Taiwan 1,500 kilometres (930 mi)
Otomat Mk/2E   Italy 360 kilometres (220 mi)
Kh-59   Russia 550 kilometres (340 mi)
Joint Strike Missile   Norway/  United States 555 kilometres (345 mi)
MdCN   France 1,400 kilometres (870 mi)
P-800 Oniks   Russia 800 kilometres (500 mi)
RBS15   Sweden >300 kilometres (190 mi)
RK-55 / S-10   Russia 3,000 kilometres (1,900 mi)
Wan Chien   Taiwan 300 kilometres (190 mi)[5]
YJ-12   China 546 kilometres (339 mi)
YJ-18   China 540 kilometres (340 mi)
YJ-62   China 400 kilometres (250 mi)
Yun Feng   Taiwan 2,000 kilometres (1,200 mi)

References

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  1. ^ "U.S. Marines Experimenting with Tomahawk for Land-Attack and Anti-Ship Missions". 17 June 2021.
  2. ^ "US tested hypersonic missile in mid-March but kept it quiet to avoid escalating tensions with Russia". 5 April 2022.
  3. ^ https://www.darpa.mil/news-events/2022-07-18 [bare URL]
  4. ^ "Taiwan: New Hsiung Feng IIIE long-range strike missile | April 2018 Global Defense Security army news industry | Defense Security global news industry army 2018 | Archive News year".
  5. ^ "WW3 fears growing as 'Ten Thousand Swords' missile for strike on China 'PRIMED and READY'". 7 August 2018.