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Intermediate-range ballistic missile

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"LRBM" redirects here. For the airport using that ICAO code, see Baia Mare Airport.
IRBM and MRBM missiles.

An intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) is a ballistic missile with a range of 3,000–5,000 km (1,865–3,100 miles), between a medium-range ballistic missile and an intercontinental ballistic missile. Classifying ballistic missiles by range is done mostly for convenience, in principle there is very little difference between a low-performance ICBM and a high-performance IRBM. The range definition used here is used within the U.S. Missile Defense Agency. Some other sources include an additional category, the long-range ballistic missile (LRBM), to describe missiles with a range between IRBMs and true ICBMs. The more modern term theater ballistic missile encompasses IRBMs, MRBMs and SRBMs, including any ballistic missile with a range under 3,500 km (2,175 mi).

Some IRBMs are known to be possessed by the United States, the United Kingdom, the French Republic, the Russian Federation, the People's Republic of China, Israel, and India, including submarine-launched ballistic missiles. The United States, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and France formerly deployed land-based IRBMs.

Specific IRBMs

History

The ancestor] of the IRBM was the A4b rocket, winged for increased range, and based on the V-2 rocket (Vergeltung, or "Reprisal", officially called the A4) rocket designed by Werner von Braun widely used by Nazi Germany at the end of World War II to bomb targets in England and coastal Belgium, and military targets in western Germany, such as the bridges over the Rhine River.

The A4B was the prototype for the upper stage of the A9/A10 rocket. The goal of the program was to build a missile capable of bombarding New York City when launched in France or Spain (see Amerika Bomber). A4B rockets were tested a few times in December 1944 and January and February 1945.[6] All of these rockets used liquid fuels and oxidizers. The A4B would have used an inertial guidance system, whereas the A9 would have been hypothetically flown by a pilot on a suicide mission.

Following World War II, Dr. von Braun and other lead Nazi German scientists were secretly transferred to the United States to work directly for the U.S. Army through Operation Paperclip, developing the V-2 into the weapon for the U.S. Army.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Sci-Tech / Science : India to test fire Agni-V by year-end". Chennai, India: The Hindu. 2011-06-03. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  2. ^ DRDO plans early entry of Agni-4 into arsenal. Business Standard (2011-11-17). Retrieved on 2013-09-07.
  3. ^ a b "Ballistic Missiles of the World". MissileThreat. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
  4. ^ Carus, Seth and Zakheim, Dov (1998-04-06). "Commission to Assess the Ballistic Missile Threat to the United States". Fas.org. Retrieved 2011-07-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ IMINT & Analysis: Saudi Arabia's Ballistic Missile Force. Geimint.blogspot.com (2009-02-10). Retrieved on 2013-09-07.
  6. ^ "Die geflügelte Rakete ( A7, A9, A4b ) (in German)". V2werk-oberraderach.de. Retrieved 2011-07-15.
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