Poot said:
Not to derail the thread… but could you enlighten a novice on the misconception where it comes to cruise/ballistic?
By definition, a cruise missile is under power all of or the majority of the flight to target. Flight paths tend to be flat and close to the earth. "Terrain hugging".
A ballistic missile is a weapon that is launched via a rocket motor which cuts out soon after and then it it continues on inertia and gravity alone on a ballistic path to the target. Hence the name and is akin to a giant arc.
It's not even a magazine vs clip argument. We all still know what is being referred to. These are fundamentally different weapon systems. Jet plane vs glider argument. Even the optimal ways to counter will have to be drastically different though some overlap is seen with the highest performing SAMs. Stopping a plane vs stopping a bullet essentially.
Look up V1 and V2 weapons from world war 2 if you want historical context in the differences.
ETA: Ha. Damn. Y'all are fast. Typing on a phone sucks at times.