![]() ![]() One term is "ceiling", the maximum ceiling being the height a projectile would reach if fired vertically, not practically useful in itself as few AA guns are able to fire vertically, and the maximum fuse duration may be too short, but potentially useful as a standard to compare different weapons. For AA guns only the ascending part of the trajectory can be usefully used. However, many different definitions are used and unless the same definition is used, performance of different guns or missiles cannot be compared. The maximum distance at which a gun or missile can engage an aircraft is an important figure. In French, air defence is called DCA ( Défense contre les aéronefs, aéronef being the generic term for all kinds of airborne threats (aeroplane, airship, balloon, missile, rocket). In Russian, the AA systems are called zenitnye (i.e., 'pointing to zenith') systems (guns, missiles etc.). Non-English terms for air defence include the German Flak or FlaK ( Fliegerabwehrkanone, "aircraft defence cannon", also cited as Flugabwehrkanone), whence English 'flak', and the Russian term Protivovozdushnaya oborona ( Cyrillic: Противовозду́шная оборо́на), a literal translation of "anti-air defence", abbreviated as PVO. Examples are the RIM-66 Standard, Raytheon Standard Missile 6, or the MBDA Aster missile. Anti-aircraft missiles are variously called surface-to-air missile, abbreviated and pronounced "SAM" and surface-to-air guided weapon (SAGW). Other terms from the late 20th century include "ground based air defence" (GBAD) with related terms " short range air defense" (SHORAD) and man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS). In some armies the term All-Arms Air Defence (AAAD) is used for air defence by nonspecialist troops. ![]() NATO defines anti-aircraft warfare (AAW) as "measures taken to defend a maritime force against attacks by airborne weapons launched from aircraft, ships, submarines and land-based sites". Nicknames for anti-aircraft guns include "AA", "AAA" or "triple-A" ( abbreviations of "anti-aircraft artillery"), flak (from the German flugzeugabwehrkanone), "ack-ack" (from the spelling alphabet used by the British for voice transmission of "AA") and "archie" (a World War I British term probably coined by Amyas Borton, and believed to derive via the Royal Flying Corps, from the music-hall comedian George Robey's line "Archibald, certainly not!" ). After the First World War it was sometimes prefixed by 'Light' or 'Heavy' (LAA or HAA) to classify a type of gun or unit. However, arrangements in the UK were also called 'anti-aircraft', abbreviated as AA, a term that remained in general use into the 1950s. The term "air defence" was probably first used by Britain when Air Defence of Great Britain (ADGB) was created as a Royal Air Force command in 1925. Until the 1950s, guns firing ballistic munitions ranging from 7.62 mm (.30 in) to 152.4 mm (6 in) were the standard weapons guided missiles then became dominant, except at the very shortest ranges (as with close-in weapon systems, which typically use rotary autocannons or, in very modern systems, surface-to-air adaptations of short-range air-to-air missiles, often combined in one system with rotary cannons). However, while overall air defence may be for homeland defence (including military facilities), forces in the field, wherever they are, provide their own defences against air threats. In some countries, such as Britain and Germany during the Second World War, the Soviet Union, and modern NATO and the United States, ground-based air defence and air defence aircraft have been under integrated command and control. Missile defence is an extension of air defence, as are initiatives to adapt air defence to the task of intercepting any projectile in flight. NATO refers to airborne air defence as counter-air and naval air defence as anti-aircraft warfare. However, for most countries, the main effort has tended to be homeland defence. It may be used to protect naval, ground, and air forces in any location. It includes surface based, subsurface ( submarine launched), and air-based weapon systems, associated sensor systems, command and control arrangements, and passive measures (e.g. ![]() Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air, anti-air, AA guns, layered air defence or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action". ![]()
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