Aerospaceweb.org | Ask Us - Weapons Questions

Weapons Questions

It is often said that without weapons, military aircraft would be nothing more than unscheduled airlines. Addressed in this section are questions about the different kinds of weapons that modern military planes carry, including guns, bombs, rockets, and missiles.

Is it true that some airplanes fired their machine gun rounds through the moving propeller? How could they shoot through the propellers without hitting the blades? In old fighter aircraft with wing-mounted guns, were the gun barrels parallel to the centreline of the craft or were they turned inward so the bullets would converge ahead of the fighter?

What was the largest gun ever installed on a plane?

Can you please explain to me how a missile turns in flight? I never see rudders on the fins or any small rockets on the side to push it any direction.

How do the lattice grid fins on missiles like the AA-12 Adder and SS-20 Saber work? What advantages and disadvantages do they have compared to conventional fins?

Can you explain the types of guidance systems used in missiles?

Can you please explain the naming system for American missiles?

I've seen terms like CBU and GBU used in the names of weapons. What do they mean?

I'm confused about the names of Soviet and Russian missiles. Some have names like R-27 and Kh-31 but others are called names like AA-12 or AS-12. Can you please explain these naming systems?

What is the difference between a missile and a rocket or a bomb, a cluster bomb, and a guided bomb?

What is the difference between a strategic missile and a tactical missile? How about a ballistic missile and a cruise missile? What is an anti-missile missile?

Where do the Katyusha missiles used to attack Israel come from? What exactly is a Qassam rocket? I thought that rockets were unguided.

Scrapping the F-14 would mean losing the longest range interception system available. My question is will the F/A-18E/F be compatible with carrying the AIM-54 Phoenix missile?

What is Storm Shadow? Is it more effective and more accurate than the Tomahawk missile?

I've been reading a book about how bombs work and it keeps talking about something called the LAR. What does this term mean?

Has the United States or any other country ever had a plane carrying a nuclear bomb crash? Has a nuclear weapon ever been lost?

Aircraft | Design | Ask Us | Shop | Search