What are the different categories of missiles and bombs and when do you use them?

Question

I see words like “surface to air” and “hellfire” and “cruise missile” and “smart bombs”.

What are the different categories here, what do they do, when do you want to use them?

In: 4

Answer 1

Surface to air: ground to air, so a ground-based missile that targets aircraft.

Related: air to ground (aircraft that hits ground targets), air to air (aircraft that hits other aircraft), anti-tank (good against tanks), and anti-ship (good against ships)

Hellfire: the name of a specific design of US missile

Cruise missile: a long range, surface-to-surface missile

Smart bomb: a bomb that has guidance capabilities, either from GPS targeting or laser-designated targeting from a nearby ground force. Contrast to “dumb bombs” which have no guidance and simply fall wherever the gravity and the wind takes them.