Air-to-ground weaponry

Air-to-ground weaponry includes all weapons used by airplanes and helicopters to destroy ground targets. This class of weapons have, since the first world war, take a great importance on the conduct of war. It's the main weaponry of ground-attack aircrafts, helicopters and bombers, as for fighter-bombers and strike fighters too. Nowadays, most aerial vehicles, including fighters and UAV are also able to use those weapons in warfare.

A wide variety of weapons exist for this purpose, depending on range, weight, type of technology and their targets.

Machine gun

Further information: Machine gun and Autocannon

Machine gun LMG 14 Parabellum.

Machine guns were one of the first weapons adapted on aircraft, as early as the first world war. They were used to hunt down other aircraft, but also shooting at infantry, vehicles and installations. This weapon is usually mounted on or in the nose, in or under the wings, or on the sides of the hull (in gunships). Those weapons evolved developing different aspects of those weapons : caliber, fire rate, number of machine gun mounted.

During World War II, American planes were mounted with a large number of low caliber machine guns, while European nations, and especially the Germans, developed bigger caliber weapons, creating the first autocanons. Gatling guns at that time were not used, as the rail guns were more useful.

GAU-17 on a UH-1N Huey. 6 tubes, 3 000 rounds per minute.

Later, the USA developed new weapons for its vehicles, using the gatling design, as for the M61 Vulcan or the GAU-8 Avenger of the A-10 Thunderbolt. They are the main weapon system of American Gunships, as the AC 130.

Grenade launcher

Further information: grenade launcher

Some helicopters are equipped with automatic grenade launchers, like the M75 and the M129, firing 40x53mm grenades.

Bomb

Further information: Bomb

A bomb is any of a range of explosive devices that typically rely on the exothermic chemical reaction of an explosive material to produce an extremely sudden and violent release of energy. The word comes from the Greek word βόμβος (bombos), an onomatopoetic term with approximately the same meaning as "boom" in English. A nuclear weapon employs chemical-based explosives to initiate a much larger nuclear-based explosion.

The term "bomb" is not usually applied to explosive devices used for civilian purposes such as construction or mining, although the people using the devices may sometimes refer to them as bombs. The military use of the term "bomb", or more specifically aerial bomb, typically refers to airdropped, unpowered explosive weapons most commonly used by air forces and naval aviation. Other military explosive weapons not classified as "bombs" include grenades, shells, depth charges (used in water), warheads when in missiles, or land mines. In unconventional warfare, "bomb" can refer to any of a limitless range of explosive devices used as or offensive weapons.

Missile

Further information: Air-to-surface missile

Cruise missile

Further information: Cruise missile