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Unit 7MissilesChapter 1: Introduction
All chapters
  1. 1. Introduction
  2. 2. The technical side of missiles
  3. 3. The strategic side of missiles
  4. 4. The political side of missiles
  5. 5. Outlook
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Chapter 1

Introduction

This unit provides a comprehensive analysis of missile systems, encompassing technical specifications, strategic implications, and political ramifications. It examines proliferation dynamics, including dual-use technologies and the evolving landscape of missile development.

Missiles have become an integral part of modern war.

The Dutch frigate De Zeven Provinciën (F802) fires an AGM-84 Harpoon

The Dutch frigate De Zeven Provinciën (F802) fires an AGM-84 Harpoon

Source: Dutch Ministry of Defence CC0 1.0/Wikimedia

They constitute the most widespread and arguably most important type of delivery vehicle for nuclear warheads. At the same time, missiles armed with conventional warheads have proven essential for conventional warfighting purposes in recent wars and conflicts.1

Prior to the war in Ukraine, missiles were often discussed in the context of emerging and disruptive technologies. Analysts and the media frequently debated the implications of relatively novel missile types, such as hypersonic boost-glide vehicles or hypersonic cruise missiles. However, the war in Ukraine and other recent conflicts have demonstrated that relatively basic types of missiles that have been around for decades, such as subsonic cruise missiles or short-range ballistic missiles, are also still highly relevant.2

Remnants of a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile with cluster warhead shot down over Kramatorsk, Ukraine

Remnants of a Russian Iskander-M ballistic missile with cluster warhead shot down over Kramatorsk, Ukraine

Source: National Police of Ukraine (npu.gov.ua), CC BY 4.0

While arguably more attention is being paid to missiles right now than ever before, the existence of missiles in the arsenals of nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states is not new. What is new, however, is the dramatic horizontalisation of missile manufacturing capabilities seen in recent years, as well as the large-scale proliferation of these weapon systems around the world, including to non-state actors. A better understanding of missiles and their implications for international security is therefore needed.

This learning unit explores definitional and technical aspects related to different types of missiles, the role of missiles in nuclear and conventional warfare, as well as efforts to counter their proliferation and to keep in check their most destabilising implications.

Footnotes

  1. Fabian Hoffmann, “The Strategic-Level Effects of Long-Range Strike Weapons: A Framework for Analysis,” Journal of Strategic Studies (2024), 1-33, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2024.2351500. ↩

  2. Fabian Hoffmann, Strategic Stability and the Ukraine War: Implications of Conventional Missile Technologies (Washington, DC: Center for Naval Analyses, 2024). ↩

The EU Non-Proliferation and Disarmament eLearning Course aims to cover all aspects of the EU non-proliferation and disarmament agenda. It's produced by PRIF with financial assistance of the European Union. The contents of individual learning units are the sole responsibility of the respective authors and don't necessariy reflect the position of the European Union.