Armament

Armament (/ ɑːrmɑːmɛnt/) consists of the weapons and payload an aircraft or plen carries to destroy enemy units.

Types of Armament
Traditional aircraft armaments consist of guns, bombs, rockets, and/or missiles, however less conventional methods of slaughtering an opponent have seen use in the past as well as the future. For example, during World War One and prior to the mass deployment of air-dropped explosives, aircraft dropped flechettes on unsuspecting infantrymen below. Some 500+ years into the future, humanity employs the use of Mass Accelerator Cannons and other coil guns to take down giant purple spaceships.

Uses
Guns (14.5mm and below in calibre) and autocannons (15mm and above in calibre) are commonly used to engage enemy aircraft or provide close air support to allies on the ground. Bombs can be used either strategically (en masse typically at high altitude), or tactically (in small quantities at low altitude) to strike heavily-armoured ground targets. Rockets were historically used for air-to-air combat, but today air better suited to ground target saturation. Missiles can be configured to use a variety of tracking methods to strike a variety of targets, ranging from other aircraft to ships or tanks.