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
Knives are a good analogy.
A butcher knife is big and heavy because it has to break through cartilage and sometimes even bones. Trying to peel a potato with one would be useless because you’d cut half the potato off with the skin.
A paring knife is sharp and agile for peeling thin skins off of things. It would be quickly blunted trying to cut through bone and it doesn’t have enough weight or length to get through much material quickly.
Anti armor and bunker projectiles are usually heavy and sharp to poke through a lot of material that is hit directly. Anti aircraft and personnel usually burst with shrapnel because small amounts of damage can kill but the target is much more fast/agile.
Some tools are good at many jobs, but if you want a tool to be GREAT at a job it’s gonna be great at usually only one.
The RPG-7 have been successfully to bring down Blackhawk helicopters.
The Ukrainians have used Stugna ATGM to shoot down a Hind helicopter.
>Would anti-air be effective against tanks?
Anti-Air would not pack enough punch to do significant damage to a tank.
An anti-tank weapon fired at an aircraft could pass right through it with minimal damage. Not likely, but possible.
The German FLAK-88mm was never intended to be used against anything but aircraft flying overhead. However…
Its has a mobile mount with four wheels and when it is towed on the road, the barrel can be lowered to below level. Its quite an accident of design, but when its lowered into its lowest position, it can still be fired.
The explosive projectile may only be 88mm in diameter, but since it was intended to explode near high-flying bombers that would be attacking Germany, it has a huge amount of powder behind it in a large case.
Rommel began using them against British tanks and it was devastating. One of the features were that the Germans had excellent optical ranging sights. The shell size can be seen in this pic
[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o)
The German FLAK-88mm was never intended to be used against anything but aircraft flying overhead. However…
Its has a mobile mount with four wheels and when it is towed on the road, the barrel can be lowered to below level. Its quite an accident of design, but when its lowered into its lowest position, it can still be fired.
The explosive projectile may only be 88mm in diameter, but since it was intended to explode near high-flying bombers that would be attacking Germany, it has a huge amount of powder behind it in a large case.
Rommel began using them against British tanks and it was devastating. One of the features were that the Germans had excellent optical ranging sights. The shell size can be seen in this pic
[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o)
The answer is that it really depends on the munitions being used. A prime example of a dual purpose weapon is the German 88 mm Flak cannon. It was designed as an anti-air weapon but worked pretty well as an anti-anti weapon when the artillery shells were swapped for armor penetrating.
The big issue is anit-armor munitions typically don’t work very well against lightly armored or unarmored targets and most things that work well for anti-air…don’t penetrate armor.
The German FLAK-88mm was never intended to be used against anything but aircraft flying overhead. However…
Its has a mobile mount with four wheels and when it is towed on the road, the barrel can be lowered to below level. Its quite an accident of design, but when its lowered into its lowest position, it can still be fired.
The explosive projectile may only be 88mm in diameter, but since it was intended to explode near high-flying bombers that would be attacking Germany, it has a huge amount of powder behind it in a large case.
Rommel began using them against British tanks and it was devastating. One of the features were that the Germans had excellent optical ranging sights. The shell size can be seen in this pic
[https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ldUl29uGVn8/X_h1k-WjmRI/AAAAAAAAa2A/tpyZ2CUPK88rVWhWfNXrmgJTHj22GYsvQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h420/flak%2B88%2Bposition.jpg)
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpNYTA6Ax5o)
The answer is that it really depends on the munitions being used. A prime example of a dual purpose weapon is the German 88 mm Flak cannon. It was designed as an anti-air weapon but worked pretty well as an anti-anti weapon when the artillery shells were swapped for armor penetrating.
The big issue is anit-armor munitions typically don’t work very well against lightly armored or unarmored targets and most things that work well for anti-air…don’t penetrate armor.
The answer is that it really depends on the munitions being used. A prime example of a dual purpose weapon is the German 88 mm Flak cannon. It was designed as an anti-air weapon but worked pretty well as an anti-anti weapon when the artillery shells were swapped for armor penetrating.
The big issue is anit-armor munitions typically don’t work very well against lightly armored or unarmored targets and most things that work well for anti-air…don’t penetrate armor.
Anti-air: high speed, high maneuverability, long range, uses a proximity fuse, concussive force does a lot of damage along with shrapnel.
Anti-armour: requires a direct hit, uses a shaped charge, short range.
Anti-personnel: air burst, fragmation, low explosive yield. Cheap.
Latest Answers