Intercontinental ballistic missile

An intercontinental ballistic missile (acronym: ICBM) is a missile that can travel so far that it be used from one continent to another.^[1] The United States and the Soviet Union made thousands of them during the Cold War, primarily to deliver nuclear weapons.

A Trident II missile is launched from a submarine

An ICBM is guided, which means it can be controlled to hit a target, usually by an inertial guidance system. The missile carries a warhead, which is usually a nuclear weapon but may be also a chemical or biological weapon. It can be launched from a silo in the ground or underwater from a submarine. Some of them can be launched from large ground vehicles.