This article presents an integrated guidance and control (IGC) framework for suicide UAVs operating in three-dimensional environments. By unifying the guidance and control subsystems, the IGC architecture effectively addresses the system’s coupled, nonlinear dynamics to improve overall mission performance. The main challenge is to develop a control strategy that is robust against aerodynamic uncertainties and external disturbances while ensuring fast terminal engagement and a smooth, chatter-free control action. To meet these requirements, we propose an adaptive continuous higher-order sliding mode controller (ACHOSMC). The controller’s higher-order design intrinsically eliminates the detrimental chattering effect, protecting the actuators by delivering a continuous command signal. The core contribution of this work lies in a novel adaptive law that dynamically adjusts the primary controller gain online. This mechanism removes the need for pre-defined uncertainty bounds, empowering the system with self-tuning capabilities to adapt to varying operational conditions. The proposed ACHOSMC is rigorously evaluated against a conventional PID controller and a non-adaptive continuous higher-order sliding mode controller (CHOSMC). Simulation results confirm the outstanding performance of the ACHOSMC, which achieves mission completion in just 10.8 seconds at a range of 750 meters, representing a 70% reduction in engagement time compared to its non-adaptive counterpart. This rapid interception capability drastically reduces the target’s window for evasive maneuvers. Moreover, the controller demonstrates exceptional precision, attaining a final miss distance of only 5 centimeters. These results underscore the proposed controller’s potential as a highly effective and resilient solution for critical defense applications demanding superior speed and accuracy.