Surface-to-surface missile

A surface-to-surface missile (SSM) is a guided missile that is launched from one point on the surface of the Earth and will hit another point. There are a significant number of subtypes of SSM. Some, such as range, apply to ballistic missiles, which included underwater- as well as surface-launched versions.

They have several forms of guidance, which, again, can be shared with missiles launched from other than the surface of the Earth. For example, anti-radiation missiles are most commonly air-to-surface missiles, but some originally air-launched types have been adapted to vehicle mounts. Differences arise both if the flight path, before the final attack, goes over land or water. If a cruise missile using terrain contour matching (TERCOM) flies over water, it needs to stop trying to match a pattern and simply hold altitude. Water and land backgrounds lead to major differences in terminal attack seekers, because the "clutter" around the target has to be considered differently if it is moving or nonmoving.

Some surface-to-air missiles have a secondary surface-to-surface capability.