Homing Head

a device used in self-guiding missiles (such as torpedoes and antiaircraft missiles) to track a target and direct the projectile to it automatically.

A homing head may direct the missile throughout its entire trajectory or only at a given stage. The basic components of the homing head are the transmitter, which emits waves at the target; the receiver, which receives the waves reflected off the target; the gyrostabilizer and the coordinator, which follow the target, defining the relative positions of the missile and its target; and the computing device, which directs the missile. Various wave bands are used in the homing head’s transmitter, including radio and optical bands. Depending upon where the transmitter is situated, homing heads are classified either as self-contained (if the transmitter is located in the missile itself) or remote (if the transmitter is located outside both the missile and target).