In military affairs, missiles were used in the early Middle Ages. The most famous missile system was the Congreve (Congreve) missile, adopted in the 1820s. in England, and then spread to other countries. An irreparable defect in all missiles was the lack of stabilization in flight and, as a result, huge dispersion. Congreve tried to solve this problem by attaching a long wooden, less often iron pole to the rocket body. Later, the pole began to be inserted into the bottom of the rocket to provide axial symmetry. The firing range of Congrev missiles reached 2-3 km. However, the huge range of missiles made them ineffective in field warfare. The most successful Congrev missiles were used when launching from boats (barcases) when firing at area targets, such as ports, cities, etc.