A ranged weapon or missile weapon is any weapon that launches a projectile or that is a projectile itself. In contrast, a weapon intended to be used in man-to-man combat is called a melee weapon.

Early ranged weapons include thrown weapons such as javelins, slings, darts, the bow and arrow, and medieval siege engines like catapults, ballistas and trebuchets. These ranged weapons were extremely effective in combat in comparison to close-combat weapons, as they gave the wielder opportunity to launch multiple projectiles before an enemy armed with melee weapons or shorter ranged missile weapon posed a threat to him. Siege engines were also used for passing or hitting obstacles like fortifications.

After the invention of gunpowder and the development of firearms, ranged weapons became the weapon of choice. In modern warfare, ranged weaponry is used in the form of cruise and ballistic missiles. Maximum effective range of a weapon is the greatest distance fired and able to produce casualties or damage consistently.

List of missile weapons

Pre-modern missile weapons

• Atlatl
• Bow
• Ballista
• Bolas
• Catapult
• Chakram
• Crossbow
• Dart
• Hunga Munga
• Javelin
• Shuriken
• Sling
• Throwing axe
• Throwing knife
• Throwing stick
• Trebuchet

Modern missile weapons

• Air-to-air missile
• Air-to-surface missile
• Anti-ballistic missile
• Anti-satellite weapon
• Anti-ship missile
• Anti-submarine rocket
• Anti-tank guided missile
• Ballistic missile
• Cruise missile
• Cannon
• Grenade launcher
• Gun
• Mortar
• Rocket artillery
• Surface-to-air missile
• Surface-to-surface missile

See also

• Projectile
• Trajectory of a projectile
• Siege engine
• List of artillery
• List of missiles
• List of missiles by nation

References

Further reading

• Gray, David (2002) Bows of the World. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-478-6
• (1992) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 1. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-085-3.
• (1992) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 2. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-086-1.
• (1994) The Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 3. The Lyons Press. ISBN 1-58574-087-X.
• The ballistics of the sling, Thom Richardson, Royal Armouries Yearbook, Volume 3 1998.

External links

• Short Bows and Long Bows: Scaling effects in archery
• Sling Weapons The Evolution of Sling Weapons
• The Sling - Ancient Weapon
• Secrets of Lost Empires: Medieval Siege (building of and history of trebuchets), from the NOVA website
• Modern and Civil War Era Cannon Information