Thread by @The_SharkSlayer

Demystifying Ballistic Missiles, A Thread!
by Yours truly (who has absolutely no technical expertise on rocketry or ballistics or missiles)
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Basics of Ballistics Trajectory
When you throw or propel an object at an angle with a force then it follows a path called a trajectory and lands at a distance under the force of gravity, this path is called a ballistic trajectory, the distance is called range and the object is called a projectile.
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So from ancient times people have harnessed ranged weapons from sticks to the modern bullets, every ranged weapon, it more or less follows a ballistic trajectory.
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So now we have got the basics out of the way, lets move ahead with this thread. I promise I'll try my best not to bore you with any more physics.
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So this thread is mainly going to focus on modern weapons, but to understand what a missile is and how is it different from other weapons we have to go a bit deeper into some of them.
I am going to skip bullets and go to artillery shells because the principles are somewhat similar.
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Artillery Shells
An artillery shell is a traditionally unguided uncontrollable projectile that uses an external propellent to propel it out of a barrel of a gun or a cannon. (bullets work more or less the same)
For Example, 155MM Howitzer Shell, Mortar
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Rockets
A rocket is a traditionally unguided and uncontrollable projectile that uses an internal propellent to propel it from a launch platform either a small tube or a launch pad.
For Example, RPG7, FFAR, Hydra, Soyuz, Katyusha
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Construction
1. Take a cylinder,
2. put a warhead (explosives) at one of its ends,
3. fill it up with a propellent at the other end,
4. add fins for stability spin
Congratulations you my friend have successfully created a rocket.
(Image Unrelated)
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Propellants
Propellants are a mixture of a fuel source with an oxidizer, traditionally there are solid propellants and liquid propellants.
you know you can mix sugar with an oxidizer and then heat it and you'll get a very basic rocket propellant.
(I shall take no responsibility for any damages).
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Missiles
Now if you add control to the rocket along with a guidance system then what you now get is a missile.
There are many kinds of missiles, some of them are internally guided by their guidance system and some of them are remotely guided. Some of them are launched to target mobile aerial, land or maritime targets and some of them are used to attack a fixed point.
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Cruise Missiles
Cruise Missiles are unmanned aircraft that use aerodynamic lift for most of its flight to deliver an explosive or specialized payload over a long distance. They can be launched from multiple sources. They use a combination of inertial and GPS navigation system that controls flight surfaces. It could use an active seeker for the terminal phase of its flight.
Examples are Ra'ad, Babur, Taimur, Tomahawk, Nirbhay and BrahMos.
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Ballistic Missiles
Ballistic Missiles in the simplest terms are rockets with a guidance system and controllability. They are used to deliver payloads at ranges.

There are four major kinds of Ballistic Missiles on the basis of range.
• SRBMs
• MRBMs
• IRBMs
• ICBMs
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Short Ranged Ballistic Missile (SRBM)
Usually short ranged;
Used for Tactical gains
Also Known as Battlefield range ballistic Missiles,
They are usually single staged.
For Example Haft I, Abdali, Ghaznavi, Nasr, ATACMS
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Medium Ranged Ballistic Missiles (MRBM)
Ranged from 800 to 3000kms
Used for Strategic Gains
They are multiple staged.
their warheads are usually the final stage;
For Example Shaheen I, II, III, Ghauri
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Intermediate Ranged Ballistic Missile (IRBM)
Ranged from 3000 to 5000kms
Used for Strategic Gains
they are multiple staged
Their Warheads are the final stage.
For Example Prithvi 5, Jehrico 3
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Inter Continental Ballistic Missile (ICBM)
Ranges greater than 5000kms
Used for Strategic Gains
Multiple Staged
Warheads are final stage
For Example Sarmat, Minuteman
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Warheads
Warheads are the explosives that go into the missiles, they can be high explosive, nuclear, biological or chemical.
They are carried in reentry vehicles.
Reentry vehicles protect the warheads during high temperatures of reentry.
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Types of Reentry Vehicles
MARV
Maneuverable Reentry vehicles can maneuver during reentry phase, can change their targets or evade interception

MIRV
Multiple Independent Reentry Vehicles are when multiple warheads are carried and each of them can target an independent target. Some of these can be dummies to prevent interception.

HGV
Hypersonic Glide Vehicles are maneuverable, very high speed warheads, that use aerodynamic forces to reach their targets they are extremely difficult to intercept.
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Disclaimers
I don't claim any expertise, this is information that I sourced from the publicly available resources.
I have never been a fan of physics, if you want to scare me then show me a picture of a physics textbook.
This is a thread on twitter and not some article in an acclaimed accredited journal, so please treat it as such.
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