• Question: how are missles made

    Asked by fund520scut on 12 Mar 2025. This question was also asked by easy520tuft.
    • Photo: Rachael Eggleston

      Rachael Eggleston answered on 12 Mar 2025:

      I have no idea- but if I had to guess, I’d imagine it’s a mixture of the outer metal, storage of the explosives, fuel storage, and some way to burn the fuel in a controlled way to launch/maybe even steer the missile.

    • Photo: Emma Bull

      Emma Bull answered on 13 Mar 2025:

      Like Rachel, I am also not a missile engineer… but I can tell you there are lots of different types of missile which means that not every one will be made the same. The word missile just means pointy thing shot through the air towards a target. This means a spear is a kind of missile, and so is a javelin, and even a bullet. We mostly mean explosive missiles when we say missile now though.

      Explosive missiles are usually a pointed cylinder of metal that contains an engine, fuel and the explosive. The missile burns the fuel in the engine to propel itself towards the target, then explode when they hit the ground with enough force. Some missiles have guidance systems, others have to be aimed at the target when they are launched and cannot change their path after takeoff.

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