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A weapon that consists of integral rocket propulsion, means of pointing or guiding the weapon's velocity vector to a prescribed orientation at the position and time of rocket engine shutoff or burnout, and a warhead. In certain applications, means…

The art and science of preserving the use of the electromagnetic spectrum for friendly forces while denying its use to the enemy. This is accomplished via use of techniques, devices, and equipment by an adversary to deny or counteract an enemy's use…

Optical instruments that establish an optical line or axis for the purpose of aiming a weapon. The axis includes the observer's eye, a suitable mark in the instrument, and the target. For a pistol, the traditional iron sights employ a rear notch and…

An expendable device that enables aircraft to detect underwater objects, such as submarines, acoustically. Acoustics is the preferred energy form for use in salt water, because it tends to be the least attenuated by the medium.A sonobuoy consists of…

An autonomous undersea vehicle that can be launched from submarines, surface ships, or aircraft to attack enemy submarines and surface ships. An acoustic torpedo is a sophisticated weapon. Its main components are a guidance and control system, a…

That category of weapons which are typically delivered on target by fixed or rotary-wing aircraft, with the exception of nuclear weapons. Specifically included are guns and ammunition, rockets, free-fall bombs, cluster weapons that consist of a…

All measures required to combat enemy submarines, including strategy, operational employment of forces, tactics, and a wide variety of equipment and weapons to find and destroy submarines and to neutralize their weapons. Goals The key physical facts…

The weapons, equipment, and supplies that permit lethal or nonlethal devices to strike their targets. Armaments can be classified as field artillery, individual and crew-served weapons (infantry), armor and antiarmor, antiaircraft, helicopter…

The branch of applied physics which deals with the motion of projectiles and the conditions governing their motion. Ballistics is, for practical purposes, subdivided into exterior and interior ballistics. Exterior ballistics begins at the instant a…

A burst of electromagnetic energy. In a military context—and the subject of this article—an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a transient electromagnetic signal produced by a nuclear explosion in or above Earth's atmosphere (Fig. 1). Though not…