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General question about drones and missiles

sksvlad

Well-Known Member
What is the difference between drones and missiles? Both are aerial vehicles, both are guided by software, and (I assume) guided missiles have a software mode when their targets can be changed. This question is because of my ignorance.
 
Some guided missiles can loiter.

Alarm is one example.

I think these days the two terms are interchangeable
 
The reason I ask this is that the news keeps on saying that so-and-so launched an attack using 100 missiles and 1000 drones. All of them are designed to explode at the target.
 
Anything that is thrown as a weapon can be called a missile

News reporters are not known for the accuracy of their reporting.
 
The reason I ask this is that the news keeps on saying that so-and-so launched an attack using 100 missiles and 1000 drones. All of them are designed to explode at the target.
I think in this case they mean supersonic vehicles with missiles and propellor driven -iranian- vehicles with drones.
 
There is a lot of overlap.

Ukraine is producing turbojet powered drones like the Palianytsia which are much faster than the propellor driven drones.

Conventional Cruise missiles are generally subsonic
 
The definitions get more and more muddied as new developments cross lines and blend technologies. In general, a rocket is a warhead propelled by a motor. A missile is the same, but with the ability to change course, either on its own or through the commands of an operator. Speed and warhead size is not a factor in the definition. A guided bomb would not generally be considered a missile, but a boosted bomb... Same with guided projectiles. The definitions don't always fit.
The biggest difference with a drone is that, unlike all other systems, once launched it does not have to be a one way trip. You can change your mind and (potentially) bring it home. Drones are not new to warfare, we used MQM-34s on high risk targets during the Vietnam war.
 
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