An anti-ballistic missile (ABM) is a surface-to-air missile designed to counter ballistic missiles. Ballistic missiles are used to deliver nuclear, chemical, biological, or conventional warheads in a ballistic flight trajectory. The term "anti-ballistic missile" is a generic term for a system designed to intercept and destroy any type of ballistic threat; however, it is commonly used for systems specifically designed to counter intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).
A surface-to-air missile (SAM), also known as a ground-to-air missile (GTAM) or surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW), is a missile designed to be launched from the ground or the sea to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of anti-aircraft system; in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated anti-aircraft weapons, with anti-aircraft guns pushed into specialized roles.
The Aster 15 and Aster 30 are a Franco-Italian family of all-weather, vertical launch surface-to-air missiles. The name "Aster" stands for "Aérospatiale Terminale", with French company Aérospatiale having been the project's lead contractor before its missile activities were merged into MBDA. It also takes inspiration from the word "aster", meaning "star" in Ancient Greek. The missiles as well as the related weapon systems are manufactured by Eurosam, a consortium consisting of MBDA France, MBDA Italy and Thales, each holding a 33.3% share.
Man-portable air-defense systems are portable surface-to-air missiles. They are guided weapons and are a threat to low-flying aircraft, especially helicopters.
The 9K35 Strela-10 is a Soviet highly mobile, short-range surface-to-air missile system. It is visually aimed, and utilizes optical/infrared-guidance. The system is primarily intended to engage low-altitude threats, such as helicopters. "9K35" is its GRAU designation; its NATO reporting name is SA-13 "Gopher".
NASAMS is a distributed and networked short- to medium-range ground-based air defense system developed by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) and Raytheon. The system defends against unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), helicopters, cruise missiles, unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAVs), and fixed wing aircraft, firing any of a wide range of existing missiles.
Aspide is an Italian medium range air-to-air and surface-to-air missile produced by Selenia. It is provided with semi-active radar homing seeker. It is very similar to the American AIM-7 Sparrow, using the same airframe, but uses an inverse monopulse seeker that is far more accurate and much less susceptible to ECM than the original conical scanning version.
Short range air defense (SHORAD) is a group of anti-aircraft weapons and tactics that have to do with defense against low-altitude air threats, primarily helicopters and low-flying aircraft such as the A-10 or Sukhoi Su-25. SHORAD and its complements, HIMAD and THAAD divide air defense of the battlespace into domes of responsibility based on altitude and defensive weapon ranges.
The RIM-66 Standard MR (SM-1MR/SM-2MR) is a medium-range surface-to-air missile (SAM), with a secondary role as an anti-ship missile, developed for the United States Navy (USN). A member of the Standard Missile family of weapons, the SM-1 was developed as a replacement for the RIM-2 Terrier and RIM-24 Tartar that were deployed in the 1950s on a variety of USN ships. The RIM-67 Standard (SM-1ER/SM-2ER) is an extended range version of this missile with a solid rocket booster stage.
Barak 8, also known as LR-SAM or MR-SAM, is an Indian-Israeli jointly developed surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, designed to defend against any type of airborne threat including aircraft, helicopters, anti-ship missiles, and UAVs as well as ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and combat jets. Both maritime and land-based variants of the system exist.
High to medium air defense (HIMAD) is a group of anti-aircraft weapons and tactics to do with defense against high to medium altitude air threats, primarily aircraft and missiles. HIMAD and its complements, short range air defense (SHORAD) and Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), divide air defense of the battlespace into domes of responsibility based on altitude and defensive weapon ranges.
Ya Zahra is an Iranian unlicensed copy of the Chinese HQ-7 missile, itself an unlicensed copy of the French Crotale missile short-range air defense system. The system entered production in 2013.
Sayyad is a series of solid fuel surface-to-air missiles (SAM) manufactured by Iran.
The 9M337 Sosna-R (Pine) (SA-X-25) is a Russian radar and laser-guided supersonic two-stage missile. It is used in Sosna-R short range air defense missile system designed to protect military units from air attacks in all types of combat situations, including during march.
The Very Short Range Air Defence System, or VSHORADS, is a fourth generation, man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) developed by Research Centre Imarat (RCI), a research lab under Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), located in Hyderabad. Multiple DRDO laboratories along with Indian Industry Partners are participating in the project. It is designed for anti-aircraft warfare and neutralising low altitude aerial threats at short ranges.
