Atlas Trail
Missiles by Year of Service: From the Matador to the Oreshnik
These missiles are ordered by the year each page records as its introduction, so the path runs from the first American cruise missile of 1952 to a ballistic missile first used in combat in 2024. Along the way it passes anti-tank, air-defense, naval, air-to-air and strategic weapons, showing how guidance moved from radio and wire commands to infrared and satellite navigation.
Stop 1 of 11.
Weapons Systems
The first operational American surface-to-surface cruise missile, built by the Glenn L. Martin Company with lessons from the German V-1. Radio command guidance let operators correct its course in flight, it carried a W5 warhead of about 50 kilotons, and about 1,200 were built before retirement in 1962.
Stop 2 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A French wire-guided anti-tank missile from Nord Aviation, steered by hand along the line of sight. It entered French Army service in 1956, remained in use into the 1980s, and gave rise to the air-to-ground AS.11 and the larger SS.12 series.
Stop 3 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A Soviet high-altitude air defense system, known to NATO as the SA-2 Guideline, built around a command-guided missile. It scored the first surface-to-air kill of an enemy aircraft in 1959 and shot down a U-2 spy plane in 1960.
Stop 4 of 11.
Weapons Systems
The world's first intercontinental ballistic missile, designed by Sergei Korolev's bureau. It entered service on February 9, 1959 with a thermonuclear warhead of 3 to 5 megatons, and its design also became the basis of the rocket family that launched Sputnik.
Stop 5 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A British short-range missile built by Short Brothers to replace the Bofors 40 mm gun on warships, and the first operational shipboard point-defense missile system. It entered service in 1962 and fought in the Falklands War.
Stop 6 of 11.
Weapons Systems
An American anti-tank missile fired from a conventional tank gun, used mainly on the M551 Sheridan light tank. Full production began in 1966, about 88,000 rounds were built, and very few were fired in combat before retirement in 1996.
Stop 7 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A Royal Navy surface-to-air missile system that entered service in 1973 on Type 42 destroyers and Invincible class carriers. It is credited with nine confirmed engagements, including the first known missile-on-missile kill in combat, and was phased out between 2009 and 2012.
Stop 8 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A ship-borne short-range anti-aircraft and anti-missile weapon developed from the AIM-7 Sparrow so it could be retrofitted to existing warships. It entered service in 1976 and remains part of layered naval air defense.
Stop 9 of 11.
Weapons Systems
The Advanced Short Range Air-to-Air Missile, designated AIM-132 in the United States, uses imaging infrared homing. It replaced the AIM-9 Sidewinder in the Royal Air Force and flies at over Mach 3 to ranges beyond 25 kilometers.
Stop 10 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A lightweight guided munition from Raytheon that can be fired as a missile or dropped as a small bomb. Its small warhead suits irregular warfare where collateral damage matters, and it entered service in 2008 and was used in Afghanistan.
Stop 11 of 11.
Weapons Systems
A Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile reported to exceed Mach 10, carrying six warheads with submunitions. Its first and so far only combat use came on November 21, 2024, in a strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
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