Certainly one of the most important elements in today's spectrum of military weaponry is the tactical guided missile. Few developments have offered a greater opportunity to increase the fighting potential of our military forces. As it happens, however, few developments have caused the frustrations and problems along their path to fruition that have been associated with the tactical guided missile.

In selecting armament for a particular role, the merits and demerits of each class of weapon must be considered to arrive at that which is best for the particular application, and as such the guided missile must be viewed as just one of the possible candidates to be evaluated in its turn. The guided weapon often wins, of course, for it has certain unique characteristics that give it a number of advantages. But it is common now to find that in some applications that a decade ago would have been conceded to the missile, that guns and other types of “conventional” ordnance may be better.