intercontinental ballistic missile

An SM-65 Atlas, the first US ICBM, first launched in 1957 Minuteman III launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, on 9 February 2023. An intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) is a ballistic missile with a range greater than 5,500 kilometres (3,400 mi), primarily designed for nuclear weapons delivery (delivering one or more thermonuclear warheads). Conventional, chemical, and biological weapons can also be delivered with varying effectiveness but have never been deployed on ICBMs. Some modern designs support multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles (MIRVs), allowing a single missile to carry several warheads, each of which can strike a different target. The United States, Russia, China, France, India, the United Kingdom, Israel, and North Korea are the only countries known to have operational ICBMs. Pakistan is the only nuclear-armed country that does not possess ICBMs.

ICBM development was a central part of the nuclear arms race of the Cold War, with early development led by the Soviet Union and the US. The world's first ICBM was the R-7 Semyorka, tested in 1957. Early designs used liquid propellant, often cryogenic, which require fuelling before launch, meaning high response time and low availability. Solid-propellant ICBMs do not require fuelling, having a much lower response time. ICBMs also shifted from early missile silo fields to later truck-based transporter erector launchers. Many have been adapted into space launch vehicles. The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council all possess submarine-launched ballistic missiles with intercontinental range.