nonguided

Nonguided is an adjective used to describe a munition or projectile that lacks a dedicated guidance system to adjust its flight path after launch. Without onboard sensors or external control, nonguided weapons follow a ballistic trajectory dictated by release parameters, gravity, air resistance, and wind. The term is commonly used to contrast such weapons with guided munitions that use various guidance methods (electro-optical, infrared, GPS/INS, or laser guidance) to steer toward a target.

Common examples include unguided bombs (often called dumb bombs), unguided rockets, and standard artillery shells or mortar rounds. Nonguided weapons are typically simple and inexpensive to produce, enabling mass production and high rates of fire. They are generally less accurate than guided munitions and are used for area bombardment or suppression where precise targeting is impractical or unnecessary.

Historically, most air-dropped and ground-fired weapons were nonguided before the development of modern precision-guided munitions. In contemporary armed forces, the use of nonguided weapons has declined in high-intensity operations due to their limited precision, but they remain in use for training, saturation bombardment, or in environments where guidance systems may be degraded, unavailable, or cost-prohibitive. The term is widely encountered in military, defense, and historical literature as a counterpart to guided weapons.