What makes a weapon anti-air or anti-tank? Would anti-air be effective against tanks? Could we create one weapon that covers both, or even all possible targets?

Question

What makes a weapon anti-air or anti-tank? Would anti-air be effective against tanks? Could we create one weapon that covers both, or even all possible targets?

In: 864

Answer 1

To hit an air target, the requirements are to accurately intercept an object moving at many hundreds of miles an hour, to within 10 or 20 feet. Jets can often surpass Mach 1, and missiles can go many times faster. That said, at those speeds, everything has to be precise. Even a minor amount of damage can take such an object out, just from the force of the air hitting it. So damage can be low, but spread out.

To hit a ground target, the requirement is to make a direct physical connection with an object moving at up to 80 mph. These objects are heavily armored and designed to resist incoming fire, so the warhead has to defeat heavy ablative armor, and the rocket has to support the weight of that warhead.

The targeting objectives and math are totally different for tracking, the warheads are totally different for balancing, the rocketry is totally different, and that means it is cheaper to store two different missiles than it is to build one that does everything.