Weapons and armament

All aircraft carry their unique setup of weapons. Most weapons are automatically carried when selecting a certain aircraft type, but others are only available through upgrades.

Lock-On Mechanic
All missiles have some form of lock-on mechanic, with all but the Heatseeker requiring a lock before they can be fired.

To lock a target, you need to place it inside the marked cone in front of your aircraft. This cone marks the locking angle, and this can vary between ordnance. For instance, SARH and SEAD missiles have a much narrower locking angle than heatseekers, although the latter has shorter range.

You will hear a pulsing, intermittent tone as you try to achieve lock. Once the missile has achieved a lock, you will hear the tone go solid, and you will see a green diamond around your target or at the edge of your screen in the direction of your target. At this point, the missile's seeker is ready to be launched. Locking on is not going to guarantee a hit, however; against aircraft, you must be wary of their direction, speed, and countermeasures; and against all targets you should be sure there are no Mountains in your missile's path, as it is possible for you to achieve a lock around a mountain even though it will block your missile.

Although there's no warning for heatseekers aside from hearing the missile launch, when being tracked by SARH radar you will see a red line pointing towards the aircraft who is doing the tracking, and you will also hear an electronic ping warning you of the SARH track. This lasts as long as the targeting aircraft continues to track you, but will stop if they switch weapons or if you fly outside of the semi-active radar cone. Like heatseekers, you will hear the missile launch regardless of distance.

Heatseeking Missiles
Introduction

Heatseeking missiles are the standard air-to-air missile, available on all aircraft with the exception of the Close Air Support class. In all cases, an aircraft has two heatseekers, and like any armament can rearm them by landing at base.

Usage
A heatseeker is a flexible and versatile weapon. It can lock on to targets in a wide cone in front of your plane, but can also be fired without a lock-on so it can find a target on its own after firing. This allows one to take an enemy by surprise, or to attempt a last ditch knock-out if a plane is on approach to land. When a heatseeker is locked on, it is very good at tracking targets. When pursuing a target in a tight circle and a lock-on is achieved, it is possible to fire and hit the target.

Combat Effects
In order to inflict damage, a heatseeker only requires a near-miss. However, its damage is calculated randomly, regardless of how direct a hit was inflicted. This damage ranges from 50-110 by default; it is possible, though unlikely, to destroy a Multirole or Light Fighter with a single missile, and impossible to one-shot an air superiority fighter. A Close Air Support plane might require three missiles! All of those facts assume that the target has not purchased additional health, and that the shooter has not purchased heavy warheads.

Countering Heatseekers
The best counter to missiles is flares, which are extremely effective when deployed correctly. See the flares section below.

If you are out of flares, evasive maneuvers can still enable you to dodge an incoming heatseeker, though it is harder to do so compared to semi-active missiles. Flying sideways-on to the missile and throwing a loop or half loop with good enough timing, combined with a turn, can dodge the heatseeking missile.

Heatseekers also have limited fuel. It is possible to outrun a heatseeker if it is fired at long enough range, or if you are in a fast enough aircraft. You also may be able to force the heatseeker to crash into an environment object such as a Mountain.

Three perks can be bought to improve heatseeker performance:
 * Dogfighting Loadout: Carry two extra heatseeking missiles.
 * Heavy Missile Warheads: All missiles deal 25% extra damage.
 * Helmet-Mounted Sight: Provides a 10 degrees wider maximum lock-angle for heatseeking missiles.

Semi-Active Radar Homing (SARH) Missiles
Introduction

SARH Missiles are very effective at engaging long-range and medium-range targets, as well as targets who are attempting to retreat. They have more missile fuel than Heatseekers and can maintain a lock-on from much further away. However, they have no seeker head of their own, and this makes them reliant on targeting data from the aircraft which fired it. Additionally, they are only available on Air Superiority Fighters.

Usage
SARH missiles cannot be fired without a lock-on, and will only lock to enemy aircraft. Guide the targeting cone so that your target is inside it, until lock-on is achieved. Afterwards, you must maintain a lock until the missile hits the target. Once it has done so, you will hear a ping sound off and lock will disappear. This will usually be happening off-screen, so these signals are the only feedback you have when the missile is beyond visual range.

It is not recommended to use SARH missiles at short range, as the cone becomes very narrow inside visual range and unless the target is fleeing in a straight line, it will be very difficult if not impossible to keep the missile locked at all times. It is recommended to use heatseekers or the gun at this range.

Combat Effects
Like the heatseeker, the SARH only needs a near-miss to inflict randomized damage. It does, however, deal marginally more damage, with the random range being 60-120 damage. They have a better chance of one-shotting aircraft - capable of destroying other air superiority fighters in one hit - particularly with Heavy Warheads purchased, which allows them to occasionally destroy Close Air Support planes in one hit too.

Countering
If an enemy is tracking you with its semi-active radar, you will be warned with a red line pointing to the aircraft that launched the missile and the sound of a missile being fired. There will be an electronic ping to match this line.

Like with flares to heatseekers, chaff is an easy and effective way to throw off a semi-active missile, but chaff must be bought as an upgrade.

You can also attempt to outmaneuver the missile: proper maneuvering will cause it to miss and lose you as a target, although they can sometimes turn around and come back if the firing aircraft maintains its lock. You also have the option to maneuver it into a Mountain; since SARH missiles can be fired at a long range, it can be easy to put a terrain obstacle between yourself and the missile.

Flares
Introduction

Flares are the primary countermeasure for heatseeking missiles. All aircraft carry eight of them by default, but can increase this to fourteen with the purchase of the requisite perk.

Mechanics
A flare is guaranteed to distract a heatseeker, but its effect is not instantaneous. It takes a short period of time for the heatseeker to acquire the flare, and for the flare to separate itself from the aircraft. This means if a flare is deployed too late, or if an aircraft pulls a sharp maneuver too soon after releasing a flare, the heatseeker will still be on target.

Chaff
With the appropriate upgrade, Chaff can be added to release alongside the flares. This allows a player to counter semi-active missiles in the same way that one would against heatseekers.

Bombs
Bombs are available to Multirole Fighters, Close Air Support, and Light Fighter aircraft. These aircraft spawn with 2, or in the case of light fighters must purchase the bomber loadout upgrade, and as always can rearm them at the Runway. The current version of bombs in Sky Knights is unguided, meaning a pilot must manually aim and release the bombs to hit the target after a free-fall.

Usage
When the Bomb is selected, a pilot will see a line leading to a crosshair in front of their plane. This line traces the bomb's flight path to the target, and the point of impact is highlighted by the crosshairs. Although this line is straight when the aircraft flies in a straight line, it will lag behind the aircraft when turning, and a pilot needs to factor this in when releasing ordnance. Once a bomb is released, nothing can impact its flight path.

Combat Effects
Bombs have a significant splash radius. It is unclear whether it deals full damage to all units inside this splash radius, but the average Creep has low enough health so that a near-miss will usually knock it out. This splash damage can affect aircraft near enough to the point of impact. Once a bomb has been dropped, it cannot be altered or stopped. At its point of impact, a bomb will deal 400-500 damage. After both upgrades are applied, this value changes to 392-490.

The upgrades for the bombs are as follow:
 * 1000lb Bombs: Heavier bombs that do 25% extra damage.
 * Bomber Loadout: Carry four smaller bombs instead of two larger. These bombs each deal 75% of the damage of the normal ones.

Note that when combined these upgrades will cause the bombs to do 98% damage of the base bombs.

Rockets
Unguided rockets are available to Strike Fighters. These aircraft spawn with 20 and as always can rearm them at the Runway. The current version of rockets in Sky Knights is unguided, meaning a pilot must manually aim and release the rockets to hit the target.

Usage
When the Rocket is selected, a pilot will see a line leading to a pipper in front of their plane. This line traces the rocket's flight path to the target, and the point of impact is highlighted by the pipper. The rockets travel in a straight line based on the aircraft's attitude. As such, their range can vary dramatically. The automatic dive triggered by flying near enemy Creeps shortens the range and must be adjusted for. Once a rocket is released, nothing can impact its flight path.

Combat Effects
Rockets have a minor splash radius. It is unclear whether it deals full damage to all units inside this splash radius. This splash damage can affect aircraft near enough to the point of impact. Once a rocket has been released, it cannot be altered or stopped. At its point of impact, a rocket will deal 80-100 damage.

No upgrades apply to rockets.

Guns
Each aircraft carries its own cannon; stats like damage and ammunition capacity vary from class to class, and sometimes are unique to each airframe. Attackers have the best guns, boasting the highest ammunition count and dealing more damage.

While guns can be invaluable assets in a dogfight, they are a consistent means for even an air superiority fighter to destroy Creeps on the ground. Control of the jet is automatically handled by the game whenever a player approaches a ground target - though this isn't a guarantee that the gun will hit. It's always best to approach at low speed with some distance to the target.

In Sky Knights, bullets travel practically instantaneously, so no target leading is required. When out of ammunition, a pilot can land at a Runway to rearm.

There are two upgrades for the gun:
 * High Explosive Bullets: Increases the gun damage by 15%.
 * Extra Ammo: Increases ammunition by 80 rounds.

Anti-Tank Missiles
Anti-Tank Missiles are only available for Close Air Support planes, with a capacity of 4.

These require a lock-on to fire and will only lock-on to Creeps, AAA, MBTs, and FOBs. They will lock onto MBTs and AAA with greater priority than other targets. Their range is comparable to Heatseeking missiles.

By default, anti-tank missiles randomly deal 200-210 damage. The only upgrade for the anti-tank missiles is Heavy Missile Warhead, increasing the damage by 25%.

Anti-Radar Missiles
Anti-Radar Missiles are only available once you have purchased the SEAD Loadout upgrade, but they are then supplied to all class of aircraft for you. Your aircraft can only carry one missile at a time.

These missiles behave similarly to semi-active missiles, except they only target Recon and AAA. They deal massive damage, though, and are guaranteed to one-shot any ground unit it can target with 500-600 damage per shot. It is unknown whether Heavy Missile Warheads effects these, but it does not matter.