A surface-to-surface missile (also known as, ground-to-ground missile, SSM or GTGM) is a guided projectile launched from a hand-held, vehicle mounted, trailer mounted or fixed installation or from a ship. They are often powered by a rocket motor or sometimes fired by an explosive charge, since the launching platform is typically stationary or moving slowly. They usually have fins and/or wings for lift and stability, although hyper-velocity or short-ranged missiles may utilise body lift or fly a ballistic trajectory. The Fieseler Fi 103 (also known as the "V1") was the first surface-to-surface missile. travel in a high trajectory, motor burns out partway through flight

Ballistic missiles travel in a high trajectory, motor burns out partway through flight

Tactical ballistic missile: Range between about 150 km and 300 km

Battlefield range ballistic missile (BRBM): Range less than 200 km

Theatre ballistic missile (TBM): Range between 300 km and 3500 km

Short-range ballistic missile (SRBM): Range 1000 km or less

Medium-range ballistic missile (MRBM): Range between 1000 km and 3500 km

Intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) or Long-range ballistic missile (LRBM): Range between 3500 km and 5500 km

Intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM): Range greater than 5500 kmSubmarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM): Launched from ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), all current designs have intercontinental range.

Cruise missiles travel low to the ground, motor burns during entire flight, typical range 2,500 km (1,500 mi)

Anti-tank guided missiles travel low to the ground, may or may not burn motor throughout flight, typical range 5 km (3 mi)

Anti-ship missiles travel low over the ground and sea, often pop up or jink before striking ship, typical range 130 km (80 mi)

An air-to-surface missile (also, air-to-ground missile, AGM, ASM or ATGM) is a missile designed to be launched from military aircraft (bombers, attack aircraft, fighter aircraft or other kinds) and strike ground targets on land, at sea, or both. They are similar to guided glide bombs but to be considered a missile, they    usually contain some form of propulsion system. The two most common propulsion systems for air-to-surfacemissiles are rocket motors and jet engines. These also tend to correspond to the range of the missiles — shortand long, respectively. Some Soviet air-to-surface missiles are powered by ramjets, giving them both long range and high speed.

Guidance for air-to-surface missiles is typically via laser guidance, infrared guidance, optical guidance or via GPS signals. The type of guidance depends on the type of target. Ships, for example, may be detected via passive or active radar, while this would not work very well against land targets which typically do not contain such a large mass of metal surrounded by empty space.

There is some cross-over between air-to-surface missiles and surface-to-surface missiles. For example, there was an air-launched version of the Tomahawk missile, although this has been superseded by the AGM-86 ALCM. Other missiles used in both roles include the Penguin anti-ship missile and AGM-84 Harpoon anti-ship missile. Many air-to-surface missiles can be used against both ships and land targets, although some of them have to be modified to perform both roles effectively. For example, the Standoff Land Attack Missile is a land-attack version of the Harpoon.

One of the major advantages of air-to-surface missiles over other weapons available for aircraft to use to attack ground targets is the standoff distance they provide. This allows them to launch the weapons outside the most intense air defences around the target site. Most air-to-surface missiles are fire-and-forget in order to take most advantage of the standoff distance — they allow the launching platform to turn away after launch. Some missiles have enough range to be launched over the horizon. These missiles (typically either cruise or anti-ship missiles) need to be able to find and home in on the target autonomously.

Sub-categories of air-to-surface missiles include:

air-launchedanti-tank guided missiles (typically launched from helicopters)

air-launched cruise missiles 

air-launched anti-ship missiles