What makes an anti-ship missile hard to defend against?

Speed and terminal maneuvering combined with a low-altitude sea-skimming flight profile, which compresses the time a ship's defenses have to detect, track and intercept it before impact.

How is anti-submarine warfare different from anti-ship engagement?

Anti-submarine warfare relies on sonar and acoustic-homing guidance to find and engage a submerged, often quiet target, while anti-ship engagement typically uses radar or infrared seekers against a surface contact with a much larger detectable signature.

Systems for anti-ship & coastal defense

Anti-ship and coastal-defense systems exist to hold surface vessels and submarines at risk near contested coastlines. The specs that matter are engagement range (how far offshore a threat can be held), seeker and guidance type (finding and hitting a moving ship or submerged target), and warhead mass (defeating hull and compartmentalized damage control). A short-range system with excellent guidance still cedes the approach; range sets the outer edge of what the system can actually threaten.

45 matching systems in our database.

What matters for anti-ship & coastal defense

●Range: how far offshore the system can engage, which sets the size of the denied coastal or open-water zone.
●Max speed (Mach): supersonic and hypersonic anti-ship missiles shrink a ship's reaction and intercept window.
●Warhead mass: penetration and damage effect against a hull, superstructure or submarine pressure hull.
●Guidance: active radar, infrared or wake-homing seekers for anti-ship; sonar and acoustic homing for anti-submarine weapons.

Browse missile systems Compare side by side

Anti-Ship & Coastal Defense systems in our database

Helicopter

Leonardo

AW101 Merlin

Max speed 309 km/h

Systems for anti-ship & coastal defense

What matters for anti-ship & coastal defense

Anti-Ship & Coastal Defense systems in our database

AW101 Merlin

Amiral Ronarc'h-class Frigate (FDI)

Alvaro de Bazan class (F100)

Bonifaz class (F110)

Bergamini class (FREMM)

Kawasaki P-1

Kolkata class

Visakhapatnam class

Daegu-class frigate

Formidable-class

Nilgiri class

Sejong the Great-class destroyer

Shivalik class

Soryu-class

Hunter-class

Incheon-class Frigate

Istif-class

Maya-class

Mogami-class

Pohjanmaa-class (Squadron 2020)

Visby-class

Ada-class

Chungmugong Yi Sun-sin-class destroyer

Izumo-class

Atmaca

C-Dome

Tuo Chiang-class

Gabriel

S-80 Plus

Taigei-class

Salvatore Todaro class (U212A)

Kh-22

Kh-32

Chang Bogo-class submarine

Hsiung Feng III

Kalvari class

Reis-class

Akeron LP

Sea Breaker

Type 12 SSM

Diamond Shaped

Oshkosh ROGUE-Fires

YJ-21

Seabed Sentry

RAACM

Frequently asked questions