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?

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Answer 1

It’s a bit like hunting a duck vs. hunting a rhino. Birdshot won’t do much to a rhino, and you would have a hell of a time hitting a flying duck with a big game rifle. You have different needs.

Anti-aircraft missiles are extremely fast and agile, usually flying between Mach 2.5 and Mach 5. They typically use a blast-frag warhead to damage a fragile aircraft by simply detonating near it with shrapnel. They use either radar homing or an IR seeker to find their target.

Tanks are extremely tough but not very maneuverable. ATGMs usually fly around Mach 1, guided by either a thermal seeker or manually guided by the user. The key to a good anti-tank missile is a warhead capable of piercing a tremendous amount of armor. They utilize a shaped-charge or explosively-formed-penetrator to punch through thick armor. Some even have 2 warheads in tandem to defeat explosive-reactive-armor or ERA.