Missile Survey: Ballistic and Cruise Missiles of Foreign Countries

This report provides a current inventory of ballistic and cruise missiles throughout the world and discusses implications for U.S. national security policy. (Note: the Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Weapons of Mass Destruction Terms Reference Handbook defines a ballistic missile as "a missile that is guided during powered flight and unguided during free flight when the trajectory that it follows is subject only to the external influences of gravity and atmospheric drag" and a cruise missile as "a long-range, low-flying guided missile that can be launched from air, sea, and land.") Ballistic and cruise missile development and proliferation continue to pose a threat to United States national security interests both at home and abroad. While approximately 16 countries currently produce ballistic missiles, they have been widely proliferated to many countries - some of whom are viewed as potential adversaries of the United States. Nineteen countries produce cruise missiles which are also widely proliferated and many analysts consider cruise missile proliferation to be of more concern than that of ballistic missile proliferation, primarily due to their low threshold of use, availability and affordability, and accuracy. This report will be updated annually.