Difference b/w Air/Land launched missiles

sorter

Provided that we have got two different missiles by name(A & B) but yet they have in common the guidance system as well as the engine say a turbofan; can they be called a single missile having two versions i.e air launched & land launched??

If not does this mean that though both have turbofans but thrust profiles/specific impulses are different for air & land launched missiles??

I do know that there will be some aerodynamic diffences but what about internal makeup??

simplex

If the two missiles, you are talking about, are made by the same company then they can be considered a single missile with two versions.

Cyrus

Missiles don't use turbofans, they use turbojets.

minger

I've seen long-range missiles with small bypass ratio turbofans.

Aside from that, they could be, but obviously the start sequences will be different. More importantly though, air and surface-launched missiles typically have different missions, and thus aren't suited for the same missile.

It's difficult enough at times to design for one operating point and condition, let alone two different missions.

russ_watters

I'd say the biggest difference is a surface launched cruise missile often requires a rocket booster.

boneh3ad

Um... Cyrus, what about Tomahawks? AGM-86? AGM-129? Basically any cruise missile will use a turbofan.

Cyrus

I thought those were turbojets. Interesting....must be low bypass ratio.

boneh3ad

Low-bypass turbofans. There aren't any turbojets used on any American aircraft these days that I am aware of. I am not even sure if other countries still use them. Even fighters use low-bypass turbofans now. Generally, missiles use either a turbofan or a solid rocket engine depending on their mission.

To answer the original question, you can have the same missile that is capable of both air and sea (and land) launches. For example, the Tomahawk could launched from land or sea (though we no longer use the land version) and was designed to be able to launch from the air if needed. It uses a solid rocket to launch and then the turbofan kicks in regardless of the launch method.

sorter

People I believe ht there must be some difference in thrust profiles of a cruise missile that is launched from a aircraft fling at
1) 1.6Mach
2)~16km altitude

compared to a missile launch from sealevel with 0 initial speed

berkeman

Did you see russ' comment in Post #5?

russ_watters

Some clarifications:
-It isn't typical for cruise missiles to be launched from supersonic aircraft.
-Some cruise missiles use turbojets, notably the Harpoon family: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_AGM-84_Harpoon
-Supersonic cruise missiles aren't all that common, but tend to use rocket-boosted ramjets.
-Yes, the point of the rocket booster is essentially to boost the cruise missile from a standing start into the the launch envelope (a certain speed and altitude) of the air-launched version. This, of course, requires a high thrust for a short period of time.

sorter

^^Thnx
AGM-129 uses the following powerplant:
F112-WR-100 Turbofan
AGM-129 ACM - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

BGM-109 uses the following powerplant:
F107-WR-402 turbofan
BGM-109 Tomahawk - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is interesting...so at some point they decided to further develop F107 for use on an ALCM? And so they went to develop basically a new turbofan as well as design for AGM-129, yet somehow AGM-129 is just a variant of BGM-109?

jhae2.718

The AGM-129 and BGM-109 are different cruise missiles.

sorter

Manufacturer General Dynamics (initially)
Raytheon Missile Systems

jhae2.718

Just because they have the same manufacturer doesn't make them the same missile. The BGM-109 Tomahawk was originally designed as a submarine launched cruise missile. The AGM-129 was intended to be an LO air launched cruise missile with a nuclear warhead. They are different platforms with different missions.

boneh3ad

AGM-129 is also low-observable and has a significantly longer range but could only be launched from a B-52

sorter

Tht was my basic confusion of whether should i take thm two different missiles or a single missile wth two variants??
BY THE WAY Do you also believe in that perception that only similarly designed missiles can be called as versions of each others...