Follow TV Tropes

Following

Context Main / AntiAir

Go To

1%% Trope was declared Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease via crowner by the Real Life Section Maintenance thread: %%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/crowner.php?crowner_id=3qo8m6jm
2%%https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=13350380440A15238800
3[[quoteright:270:[[TabletopGame/Warhammer40000 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hydraft_6264.jpg]]]]
4[[caption-width-right:270:[-All together now: [[MoreDakka dakka dakka dakka dakka!]]-] ]]
5
6->''"We don't fly and we're not letting anyone else, either!"''
7-->-- '''Unofficial motto of Russian anti-air corps'''
8
9Fighting against [[AirborneMook flying enemies]] is a pain when your own two feet are on the ground. Either your enemies can swoop down at you swiftly or stay high enough that your attacks cannot reach them.
10
11For this situation, you need Anti Air: an attack, weapon, munition, ability, etc. that is effective against flying enemies. Alternatively, it can be something that brings the flying enemy down to ground and prevents them from flying again temporarily.
12
13Works with flying monsters bring Anti Air to the fore. There's nothing like a dragon overhead to start a craze for archery. Effective Anti Air attacks are great for dramatic reversals of fortune in a story, with a flying enemy brought figuratively and literally low.
14
15In video games, one common way to add tactical depth and CompetitiveBalance is to make AA units excel against flyers, but fail against everything else -- what we call CripplingOverspecialization. They usually form part of a TacticalRockPaperScissors game mechanic. For example, AA is great vs aircraft, aircraft are great vs troops, troops are great vs AA. Any unit not specifically devoted to the role will be unable to touch airborne enemies.
16
17Alternatively in video games, they can serve as objectives in setting up, manning, or destroying to further the plot, whether it is to negate or regain air superiority.
18
19More generally, works set around WWII have given us a legacy of visual tropes: a sweating crew frantically traversing a multi-barrel anti-aircraft gun, the rapid pounding of the barrels, the terrifyingly fast blur of strafing aircraft. In works set from the pilot's point of view we have the sinister black puffs of flak and [[EveryBulletIsATracer tracer fire]] appearing in the air all around them. This is pretty much a given during a bombing run, where the pilot is unable to try and evade the incoming fire, having no choice but to fly straight into the teeth of the defenders lest he throw off the aim of his own attack.
20
21Specific anti-aircraft weapons are deployed in RealLife. However, units with mixed roles are more common than in games. For example, most warships have some sort of AA as well as their main weapons, or their AA missiles [[MacrossMissileMassacre ''are'' their main weapons]].
22
23Contrast PointDefenseless. See also the Anti-Air entry under UsefulNotes/AirLaunchedWeapons.
24
25SubTrope of WeaponOfXSlaying. Compare {{Shoryuken}} for fictional martial-arts moves designed to counter an airborne opponent, as well as AntiCavalry, AntiInfantry, AntiVehicle, AntiStructure, and AntiArmor. See also FragileFlyer.
26----
27!!Examples:
28
29[[foldercontrol]]
30
31[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
32* ''New Anime/DominionTankPolice'' has an ironically accidental example of this when Leona Ozaki fires a prolonged burst from Bonaparte's [[GatlingGood minigun]] in frustration when the villains escape her which, unbeknown to her at the time, damages the villains' plane and causes it to explode moments later.
33* ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex: 2nd Gig'' has Kuze and several of his comrades using Stinger missiles to shoot down a [[UsefulNotes/KaijuDefenseForce JSDF]] jammer plane that had been disrupting all communications in Dejima.
34* In the ''Franchise/{{Gundam}}'' metaseries, most [[TheBattlestar MS carriers]] use [[MoreDakka vulcans]] or [[EnergyWeapon laser guns]] as anti-aircraft defense. Probably the clearest illustration comes in ''[[Anime/MobileSuitGundamSeedDestiny Gundam SEED Destiny]]'', where the Minerva's CIWS shreds a Murasame rather viscerally.
35* ''Anime/MazingerZ'': Anti-aircraft guns were placed around the [[HomeBase Photon Atomic Power Research Institute]] to shoot down flying [[{{Robeast}} Mechanical Beasts]] that tried to invade the base or blow it up. They weren't too effective, though.
36* In ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'', the ADR-04-X Defender has four long-range, high-explosive 78mm anti-aircraft autocannon at its main armament. The effectiveness of these rounds against aircraft is... considerable.
37** As it includes the original ''Macross'', ''Anime/{{Robotech}}'' also has the Defender, plus a few other additions put on the various ships' hulls. This makes quite painful how the ships of the [[Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada third series]] are PointDefenseless in spite of fighting an enemy that relies ''exclusively'' on massed fighter attacks. Though this may be an issue arising from the original Anime/GenesisClimberMospeada where Earth and the ColonizedSolarSystem are basically unprepared for Inbits/Invids invasion.
38[[/folder]]
39
40[[folder:Card Games]]
41* ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'': Green magic, being the opposing school of Blue magic (which is fond of flying monsters), has several ways to specifically deal with flyers. These range from spells that damage or destroys all flying creatures or simply strips them of their Flying attribute, to creatures that could block flying creatures or could be tapped to deal direct damage to them.
42** Almost all [[GiantSpider Spider creatures]] had the ability to block flying creatures.
43** The Reach mechanic, very common among but not exclusive to Green cards, is dedicated to this role, and specifically gives creatures the ability to block flyers, which normally cannot be blocked by non-flying creatures.
44[[/folder]]
45
46[[folder:Comic Books]]
47* ''ComicBook/ThePunisherMAX'': In "Mother Russia", Frank infiltrates a Russian nuclear missile silo along with a Special Forces guy, and they are trapped in a hangar with only an immobilized tank for defense. So Frank gets behind the machine and mows down the attackers, noting that the gun was [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill originally intended for use against aircraft]].
48* ''ComicBook/SinCity'': In "Hell and Back", Wallace is menaced by a BlackHelicopter. Luckily, he has an old army buddy with an anti-aircraft missile launcher.
49[[/folder]]
50
51[[folder:Fan Works]]
52* In the ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' of Creator/AAPessimal, the concept of an Air Force is in its infancy. Two air-capable Powers, Ankh-Morpork and Klatch, have the most evolved air arms and are watching each other closely to see what happens next. Ankh-Morpork's Air Watch has been into all-out combat once and has evolved tactic both for air-to-air fighting and for ground attack. The most that has been thrown back at them -- so far -- consists of random fireballs from ground-based magic users. But the [[AcePilot commanding officer]] is aware that this resulted in one pilot being killed and another limping back to base with damage. After an exercise involving mock attacks on Ankh-Morpork's navy in its home port of Pearl Dock, she is aware that there is a very definite need for ''capable'' ground defences capable of causing damage to air attackers. She is rather keen to be on the side that has them - and that the people operating them can tell friend from foe. Olga is also keen to know what form anti-air defence is likely to take so that she can start evolving counter-strategies.
53* ''Fanfic/ACrownOfStars'': Postdam's missile launch complex was protected from air raids by a [[WaveMotionGun Positron Cannon]]. It was mounted like an artillery piece and connected to the power grid, and it was capable of shooting down an eighty-meter-tall flying TransformingMecha.
54* ''Fanfic/AlongCameASpider'': Kai pilots a 'Mech specifically designed for air defense, with advanced radar and a 360-degree weapon arc.
55* ''Fanfic/LastRights'': A Klingon fighter is shot down by Vaadwaur infantry with a shoulder-fired missile.
56[[/folder]]
57
58[[folder:Film]]
59* ''Film/BehindEnemyLines'' has a rather memorable scene where the protagonists' plane is engaged by not one but ''two'' enemy surface-to-air missiles which are virtually impossible to outmaneuver or foil with any countermeasure they can think of.
60* A major drive in ''Film/CharlieWilsonsWar'' is the need to find a weapon the Afghans can use to shoot down Soviet Hind gunships, which are armoured against anything up to .50 calibre. The venerable Oerlikon 20mm cannon is mentioned as a possibility but dismissed because the Soviets will just switch to flying higher-altitude missions, above its effective ceiling. The key turns out to be the Stinger AA missile, though the [=CIA=] weapons expert also points out that a lot of other hardware is needed to make the Afghan fighters effective - including advanced communications gear so "they won't be so fucking easy to find".
61* ''Film/{{Congo}}'': the expedition is [[BorderCrossing attempting to fly over a closed border]] only for army units to start firing at them with shoulder-fired heat-seeking missiles. After using {{Flare Gun}}s to divert some, they skydive out of the plane before a missile locks on to them.
62* ''Film/FlightOfTheIntruder'' has North Vietnamese anti-aircraft defenses as a major and constant threat to the protagonists, which makes sense given the role of the titular aircraft as a low-altitude attack plane vulnerable to everything from advanced surface to air missiles to (literally) a peasant with a rifle. A major plot point in the film involves the protagonists going rogue to take out a stockpile of Vietnamese [=SAM=]'s that were off-limits due to operational restrictions at the time. The original book had them hitting the HQ of North Vietnamese Intelligence instead.
63* The Mechs in ''Film/TheMatrix'' sequels.
64* ''Film/ThePeacemaker'' has the protagonists violate Russian airspace while chasing stolen nuclear weapons. The local Russian air defense forces do ''not'' take it lightly, and destroy one of the helicopters.
65* ''Film/RedDawn1984'' has both the Russians and the Wolverines trying to invoke this trope against attacking helicopters. In the beginning of the film, we see a US Army Huey strafing the Russian forces (and exacting a GunshipRescue for the heroes at one point), while the climax of the film shows the heroes take a desperate shot at a Soviet chopper with a rocket-propelled grenade, hit it... [[NoSell and barely cause any damage at all.]]
66** Actually, the shot against the Soviet chopper was a [[ImprobableAimingSkills perfect center-mass shot]] that went through an open hatch on the helicopter. The round would have continued going if it hadn't hit a crewmember.
67* ''Film/Severance2006'': Played for BlackComedy when a weapons merchant fires a missile at attacking soldiers, only for the missile to arc up into the air and shoot down a passing airliner. Oops!
68* The Death Star Turrets in ''Franchise/StarWars: Film/ANewHope''.
69** Which didn't work, since the Turbolaser batteries were intended for capital (Star-Destroyer caliber) starships, not one-man fighters. Plan B? TIE Fighter squadrons.
70** And then in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', Hoth base has an anti-''orbital'' ion cannon, which proves readily capable of disabling a Star Destroyer in a single volley.
71* ''Film/TheSumOfAllFears'' shows the [=USS=] ''John C. Stennis'' aircraft carrier attempting to defend herself from a missile attack using a [[GatlingGood Phalanx CIWS]] turret, though it doesn't turn out very well.
72** It should be noted that in RealLife, the carrier would have been protected by the numerous [[UsefulNotes/SuperiorFirepowerSurfaceToAirMissiles AEGIS]] cruisers and destroyers surrounding it. Given that they were in range of a Russian bomber regiment, not having a CAP is also rather foolish.
73* Comes into play at two points in ''Film/ThirteenDays''.
74** First when the Navy begins making low-altitude photo recon passes over Cuba. Because they were trying to avert a war, rather than admit the Russians shot at them, the planes come back riddled with "[[InsistentTerminology birdstrikes]]."
75** The second instance is when [[spoiler:Major Anderson is shot down]].
76* ''Film/TopGunMaverick'' uses this as the justification for the AirStrikeImpossible mission flown by two pairs of Hornets needling a thread through a canyon at high speed before climbing tightly over a mountaintop in order to approach a target located at the bottom of a deep crater without flying high enough to get tagged by the ''numerous'' Surface to Air Missile sites located in the area. Exiting the canyon requires the pilots to fly up into the defenders' engagement envelope, resulting in the four Hornets having to [[HighSpeedMissileDodge frantically evade]] a MacrossMissileMassacre as the air defenses open up.
77[[/folder]]
78
79[[folder:Literature]]
80* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'', the Targaryen dragons are an almost irresistible weapon, because there are so few defenses against them. Most of the dragons that are killed in the series either die in a fight with other dragons or are ambushed and killed on the ground. Still, at least one dragon was successfully killed in the air, using massed [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SiegeEngines scorpion fire]].
81* In the ''Literature/{{Biggles}}'' series, Biggles, like many other [=WW1=] aviators is contemptuous of ill-aimed and random ground fire ("Archie" to pilots of the day) and largely ignores it. Which doesn't mean he isn't shocked on the one-in-a-thousand chance when he sees it bring down a plane. At one point, shot down and forced into the trenches for refuge, he leads an informal class on how infantrymen can shoot down German planes with the issue machine-gun - reminding them to account for deflection and to always aim ahead. He proves his point by knocking down a strafing German biplane. Later on, he is victim of a fluke when a single bullet, fired from the ground, knocks out his engine. He glides his plane to a landing wondering, bitterly, how unlucky you can get to be.
82* In the aviation novels of Creator/DerekRobinson, his [=WW1=] pilots are equally dismissive of ground flak. Until one pilot flies right into a shell that turns his plane into a cloud of small fragments.
83* ''Literature/{{Ecotopia}}''. When the fledgling title country was invaded by the U.S., its armed forces used missiles that deployed streamers to tangle up the blades of attacking U.S. helicopters. Which would work about as well as a chocolate flamethrower, but hey.
84* ''Literature/FlightOfTheIntruder'' centers on a Navy attack pilot during the UsefulNotes/VietnamWar, and the various flavors of threats to their aircraft (and their various methods of dealing with them) is a constant underlying theme of the book. Through the course of the book, they have to deal with everything from radar-guided Surface to Air Missiles to fighter interceptors to a farmer firing blindly into the night sky with his rifle. Three named characters die without warning due to lucky shots by the enemy, and another dies as a result of a duel with an enemy Anti Air battery.
85* ''In Honour Bound'' by Gerald Seymour involves a British SAS man going into Soviet-occupied Afghanistan to shoot down a Hind gunship so its secrets can be photographed and brought back for British intelligence. Given that he's using an obsolete Redeye missile launcher (for PlausibleDeniability) with only eight missiles, and is up against the [[TheDreaded most feared helicopter gunship of the day]], this is not easy.
86* In the ''Literature/JamesBond'' novel ''Literature/DiamondsAreForever'', Bond uses a Bofors anti-aircraft gun to shoot down Jack Spang's helicopter.
87* In the ''Literature/JackRyan'' novel ''Literature/TheCardinalOfTheKremlin'', one of the characters is an Afghan who excels in using the FIM-92 Stinger missile launcher to shoot down Russian helicopters. He also averts the CripplingOverspecialization at the end by [[spoiler:using the heat-seeking warhead to lock on to and destroy Russian guard towers with electric heaters in them.]]
88* ''Franchise/StarWarsLegends'':
89** In ''[[Literature/XWingSeries Isard's Revenge]]'', Corran's X-Wing is seriously damaged by a stormtrooper using a [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/PLX-2M_portable_missile_launcher shoulder-fired missile]]. Corran manages to make an emergency landing.
90** Like the Echo Base ion cannon in ''Film/TheEmpireStrikesBack'', [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/W-165_planetary_turbolaser planetary turbolasers]] are surface-to-orbit {{Wave Motion Gun}}s. In this case, they don't disable Star Destroyers. They blow them to flinders (one volley is enough to destroy an ''Imperial''-class).
91** There are also [[https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Lancer-class_frigate/Legends Lancer-class frigates]], ships specifically designed to be counters to starfighters (but not much else). In ''Literature/XWingSeries'', their presence is pretty much always triggers an OhCrap response.
92* The ''Literature/{{Temeraire}}'' series is an alternate-history version of the Napoleonic Wars that gives the various players aerial corps populated with intelligent talking dragons trained for combat and aerial defense, which happens to be the ''only'' role dragons can have in Europe. However, the smaller dragons can still go down to cannonballs like anything else, and pepper guns, which literally [[PepperSneeze shoot ground peppercorns at dragons to irritate their eyes and airways]], are common on warships and are an essential part of any anti-dragon compliment. One advocate for dragon rights fights so fiercely for dragons to work outside the military or without riders because she has seen the advancement of technology in firearms and the invention of pepper guns. She posits that there will come a day when a weapon will come about that can kill even the biggest dragons, crew and all, BreathWeapon or no, in a single strike mid-flight, and then where will that leave dragons?
93[[/folder]]
94
95[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
96* ''Series/BabylonFive''
97** Earth Alliance has the Interceptors, energy weapons with two uses: the first is to [[ShootTheBullet intercept enemy fire]] ([[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin hence the name]]), the other is shooting down enemy fighters. And without enemy ships to distract them, the Interceptors will mow down enemy fighters with little effort: the one time a group of [[SpacePirate raiders]] attacked the titular station, their fighters survived [[CurbStompBattle less than ten seconds]] after Sinclair realized their mothership was unarmed and had the station's ''antiquated'' Interceptors repurposed.
98** Pretty much any race has particle weapons for both jobs (indeed, the Interceptors are notable because they're better than Earth Alliance tech level should allow and have a low-level shield as a bonus, and EA complements them with more powerful weapons that are almost as good). The exception are the Hyach, who use lasers as anti-air and a different system against enemy incoming fire, and some races that use matter weapons (projectile-based) for the job, either for preference (the Orieni. Their gatling railguns are frighteningly effective against fighters and missiles) or because they are technologically primitive.
99* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E9TheEmptyChild "The Empty Child"]], Rose accidentally hitches a lift on a barrage balloon, which were used during World War II to snag low-flying aircraft with their cables.
100* In the later seasons of ''Series/GameOfThrones'', we see two dragons taken down in the air. One was by a javelin thrown by a White Walker (therefore presumably magical), and the other with massed scorpion fire. The latter was the more conventional anti-air weapon, but that case turned out to be a lucky shot, as Drogon proved able to easily avoid those weapons in the subsequent battle.
101* ''Series/{{JAG}}'':
102** In the pilot movie we see Soviet-made AA guns used by the Serbs against U.S. Navy F-14s, and they almost take the CAG out, if it were not for his resourceful passenger.
103** Also part of the backstory of Harm's dad: he was shot down by AA during UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar (Christmas Eve 1969).
104** "Brig Break" begins with a JAG investigation concerning a [[ChekhovsGun missing Stinger missile]] before [[MinorCrimeRevealsMajorPlot the titular brig break occurs]]. The missing Stinger launcher is used on a Sea Stallion helicopter pursuing the villains. [[spoiler:But it was sabotaged so the warhead didn't go off.]]
105* ''Series/MastersOfTheAir'': German Flak batteries are a major ongoing threat for the airmen, with batteries of heavy artillery firing shells at the bombers and constantly peppering them with shrapnel, tearing holes in planes and crew alike. More than one plane ends up getting knocked out of the formation by flak before the Luftwaffe makes an appearance. The crews also know from experience that [[ItsQuietTooQuiet when the flak stops]] they are immediately about to get pounced by German fighters.
106* Stinger missiles are widely used by the [[HumansByAnyOtherName Tau'ri]] in the ''Franchise/StargateVerse'' against enemy fighters. By ''Series/StargateUniverse'', they've added [[MoreDakka 200-round-per-minute railgun artillery]] to the mix.
107** In ''Series/StargateSG1'', Jack O'Neill once used a Colt [=M203=] GrenadeLauncher to shoot down a Death Glider.
108** The Tollans defend their homeworld with a grid of [[WaveMotionGun ion cannons]], each capable of taking out a Goa'uld mothership by itself. [[spoiler:Until Anubis arrives and upgrades their shields to the point where said cannons no longer work.]]
109[[/folder]]
110
111[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
112* ''TabletopGame/BattleTech'' features a few weapons with the explicit "Flak" special ability -- a -2 to-hit bonus against airborne targets. The classic example are LB-X autocannons firing their special "shotgun" cluster rounds, although in recent years the Clans' hyper-assault Gauss rifles have joined the fray and dedicated flak ammunition for standard autocannons has been retconned into having always existed as well. In addition, engaging specifically ''fighters'' from the ground calls for rather different traits in a weapon than attacking ground targets; damage inflicted is nearly irrelevant under tournament rules because ''any'' hit in an atmosphere already forces the aircraft to make a control roll with the consequences of failure being a sudden loss of altitude and possible crash, while range is paramount because altitude does rapidly add to effective engagement range, rendering many shorter-ranged stock weapons largely or even completely ineffective. As a result, it's generally acknowledged that exactly the low-caliber autocannons that are frequently belittled in ground combat for their abysmal damage-to-weight ratio are among the best weapons to have on hand when the aerojocks come calling. The game also has the "Anti-Aircraft Targeting" quirk, which grants a bonus to attacks against airborne enemies. The Rifleman, Jaegermech, and Partisan Air-Defense Tank are all purpose-built for anti-aircraft work and have both the quirk and medium-sized autocannons for swatting down anything that tries flying over the battlefield.
113* ''TabletopGame/{{Champions}}'' supplement ''Gadgets!''.
114** The Flight Neutralizer Gun took various forms depending on what type of flight was to be targeted. A net gun would tangle up wings, the "Gumball Special" plugged up jetpacks, heavy gravity models brought flyers down to earth, and an energy neutralizer stopped those who flew by an act of will.
115** The "Puff" ground-to-air missile deployed Kevlar streamers which snagged and fouled the propellers of prop-driven aircraft. Probably inspired by the ''Literature/{{Ecotopia}}'' example in {{Literature}}.
116* The "Theater Air Defense" unit in ''[[TabletopGame/{{GURPS}} GURPS: Mass Combat]]'' has a strength of 50000 at [=TL7=] which makes it the most powerful unit in the game, capable of neutralizing the massively powerful Flying Battleship ''and'' and entire airforce at the same time.
117* In ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'', since the introduction of airplanes in the core rules of sixth edition anti-aircraft weapons have become much more common. Every army has at least a few options, except for the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Tyranids]]. By standard, such weapons do not receive penalties for firing on aircraft but have a hard time hitting anything else.
118** The Imperial Guard Hydra, pictured above, mounts [[MoreDakka several autocannons]] and is one of the most cost-effective anti-aircraft units around. They also have Saber platforms, which are cheaper and can be deployed as part of infantry platoons, but aren't as tough and can't move.
119** The Space Marines' new Codex introduces the Hunter, which fires a SuperPersistentMissile, and the Stalker, the BeamSpam version of the Hydra. They also have access to the [[HumongousMecha Contemptor Mortis Dreadnaught]] and Devastators with shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles.
120** The Adeptus Mechanicus Onager Dunecrawler can mount a main weapon appropriately named the Icarus Array, which fires bullets, missiles, and rockets at enemy aircraft.
121** The Eldar field [[WalkingTank War Walkers]] with surface-to-air missiles and the [[BeamSpam Firestorm]] grav-tank as their primary surface-to-air weapons.
122** The Tau can stick anti-aircraft targeting onto any [[HumongousMecha Battlesuits]], which leads to a fair bit of [[MacrossMissileMassacre surface-to-air missile fire]].
123** Chaos Space Marines tend to rely on [[GiantFlyer air to air combat]] instead, though Forgefiends in their autocannon configuration produce enough high Strength dakka to be passable as anti-air units, and Havocs with flak missile launchers are also useful.
124** It is worth pointing out however that dedicated anti-air units and the flyers they counter have both entered a sort of mutually assured destruction scenario. If you bring a flyer and your opponent brings anti-air then you're in serious trouble, but if you ''don't'' bring a flyer then s/he has wasted valuable points on a useless weapon. As a result, hardly anybody uses them.
125*** Though several of them are seen used as general anti-infantry weapons, as the sheer volume of fire that some possess can make up for abysmal accuracy.
126* In ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'', flying creatures can bypass creatures without flying and attack straight at the other player's life points, making them very useful, since the majority of creatures are do not possess flying. In general the only ways to defend against flying creatures is with another flying creature or one with reach, which can attack fliers. The green decks, which almost completely lacks flying units, also has a few spells which target fliers and can be used to instantly kill flying creatures.
127* In ''TabletopGame/FabulaUltima'', flying enemies normally cannot be attacked with melee weapons. The Elementalist's Soaring Strike spell forces a flying enemy struck by it to land, exposing it to melee attack.
128[[/folder]]
129
130[[folder:Toys]]
131* ''Toys/{{BIONICLE}}'': the Venom Flyer's Rhotuka prevents targets from flying, naturally or mechanically.
132* ''Franchise/TheTransformers'': Sidetrack of the G1 Autobot Micromasters Battle Patrol transforms into an anti-aircraft vehicle. His name is actually ironic, as his bio notes that he actually has incredible focus that makes him almost impossible to distract.
133[[/folder]]
134
135[[folder:Video Games]]
136* It's a standard rule that any TowerDefense game must have an Anti-Air tower, which rapidly destroys [[AirborneMook air units]] and ''[[CripplingOverspecialization only]]'' air units.
137* Most {{RTS}}es with ground and air defense as separate buildings use the same principle: Anti-Air does more damage than a tower, and may have other effects such as splash damage, rapid fire. But AA units provide no defense against ground units.
138* An enemy staple in ''VideoGame/AceCombat'', coming in several varieties such as machine guns, [=SAMs=], and the occasional flak cannon or laser. AA guns are a very mild inconvenience at worse provided the plane isn't on its last legs, [=SAMs=] can spell doom on high difficulties. Some games make them actually dangerous by giving them perfect accuracy if the player flies too high or not under clouds, making them invisible to radar (but not invincible; keen-eyed players can still destroy them by aiming at the source of the bullet trail or the contrails) or making them reachable only from a certain angle. As in real life, [=SAMs=] only engages above a certain altitude, so if you're running low enough, diving down to the deck will cause the SAM to lose its lock immediately and miss you completely.
139* Aircraft in ''[[VideoGame/NintendoWars Advance Wars]]'' (besides [[DefenselessTransports T-Copters]]) are highly mobile, powerful, and cannot be effectively attacked by most ground units. To deal with them you generally need to make dedicated anti-air units, most of which will [[OneHitKill destroy or cripple aircrafts in a single attack]]--provided you can catch them first.
140** The units called "Anti-Air" are essentially [[MoreDakka rapid-fire heavy machine guns]] on tracks. Not only are they devastating against air units, but against infantry and light vehicles as well. Against tanks, however, they are rubbish and they cannot even attack ships.
141** The Missile is a SAM launcher which can strike aircraft three to five squares away, [[CripplingOverspecialization but cannot attack ground or naval units at all]]. [[PointDefenseless Literally every aircraft can avoid this range]] to attack a Missile or nearby units with impunity--except when there's FogOfWar, as Missile's five-square vision makes them good at ambushes. ''Days of Ruin'' mildly improved them by increasing their max range to six squares away.
142** Cruisers are primarily for attacking Subs, thus protecting other ships, but their secondary weapon works similar to an Anti-Air against flyers, except more vulnerable to a first strike from B-Copters (damage works to be similar with both, but Cruisers are much more expensive).
143** Fighters are aircraft that can only attack other aircraft. Being ''even more'' mobile than other aircraft, Fighters utterly tear apart everything else in the air other than enemy Fighters and Stealth Fighters.
144** Aircraft Carriers in ''Dual Strike'' and ''Days of Ruin'' can only attack air units, though they work very differently in each game. In the former, Carriers are absurdly long-range indirects that can attack aircraft from up to eight spaces away, basically making more effective (but much more expensive) missiles. In the latter, they are direct units with a weak attack; their primary defense is to [[MookMaker create]] and supply Sea Planes.
145** Stealth Fighters and Piperunners are notably the only units in ''Dual Strike'' that deal significant damage to aircraft even though they ''aren't'' specialized for anti-air.
146* ''VideoGame/AncientEmpires'' has archers do additional damage towards wyverns (dragons in the sequel), the only flying unit. Combined with their ranged attack and much cheaper cost, they serve as an effective countermeasure to what is otherwise the most powerful unit in the game.
147* ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield}} 2'' features surface-to-air missile turrets on some maps as well as mobile anti-aircraft vehicles such as the American M6 Linebacker and the Russian 2S6M Tunguska. The [=USS=] ''Essex'' amphibious assault ship on some maps is also equipped with a [[GatlingGood Phalanx CIWS]] and Sea Sparrow missile system that can be operated by the player.
148** ''2142'' had the AA turrets that fired EMP missiles and some sort of plasma flak cannon. There was also a portal AA weapon, but it wasn't very useful, and a player was better off just using the stock rocket launcher against an air vehicle that flew too close to the ground.
149** Its sequel ''Videogame/{{Battlefield 3}}'' had these as well.
150*** Certain maps had Phalanxes/Pantsirs that were meant mostly to dissuade enemy aircraft from camping the vehicle spawn points.
151*** And then there was the Russian 9K22 Tunguska. Although referred to as Anti-Air, its four barrels, inhumane fire rate, excellent accuracy, and ability to fire at ground level meant it was more of Anti-''Everything''. Before the [[ObviousRulePatch well-needed]] {{nerf}}, it was common to see Tunguska players with kills in the hundreds. Now, [[StrongFleshWeakSteel regular infantry can survive its barrages longer than an armored helicopter can]], though it is still terrifying against said aircraft.
152*** Other heavy vehicles in the game, however, such as Tanks, Infantry Fighting Vehicles and Gunboats will beat the AA gun to a pulp, unless it uses Zuni Rockets in ''VideoGame/{{Battlefield 4}}''.
153* ''VideoGame/{{Bioforge}}'': At one point, the protagonist must shoot down a dropship at close quarters using a large turret gun in the complex's tower.
154* The ''VideoGame/ModernWarfare'' games in the ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' series feature the Stinger Missile Launcher - it can't hurt other players, but it's very effective at shooting down airborne threats. You can make it even more effective by using perks that prevent airborne threats from shooting you.
155* One of the subweapons available in ''VideoGame/Centipede1998'' is a red rocket that launches into the air and homes in on airborne enemies.
156* ''VideoGame/CityOfHeroes'' has many abilities that disable flight. A bit too many. Did you know getting hit with a slab of rock will prevent you from flying 20 seconds after impact? These were mostly added to balance [=PvP=], but no one takes flight in [=PvP=] anyway because there are too many counters.
157* ''VideoGame/ClashOfClans'' has the Air Defense and Air Sweeper towers along with the Air mines that are suited to deal with the flying units such as Balloons, Dragons, and Healers.
158* ''VideoGame/CodenameEagle'' have two stages where you get to man an AA-turret to fend off enemy aircraft, respectively on an escaping boat and later to prevent an airstrike.
159* ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquer'' usually follows the principle of having units and defense structures dedicated to either anti-ground or anti-air. That said:
160** This most frequently manifests as a Surface-to-Air Missile attack. Both sides in original ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianDawn Tiberian Dawn]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSun Tiberian Sun]]'' have some kind of SAM structure.
161** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert2'' Soviets love their Flak cannons.
162** Allied AEGIS cruisers in ''Red Alert 2'' unleash a missile spam on air units, and only them. By comparison, GLA quad guns in ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerGenerals Generals]]'' are as efficient on aircrafts as on infantry. As do the [[UsefulNotes/ChineseWithChopperSupport Chinese]] [[GatlingGood Gat]][[MoreDakka ling]] tank, which can actually ''shred'' infantry divisions with only a handful of them. Lastly, the US Patriot Missile systems can destroy large groups of any vehicle extremely fast. Which includes both aircraft and tanks. In Zero Hour they get the Avenger which shoots down air units with lasers.
163** In ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRenegade Renegade]]'', it is well possible to use a tank to fire at air units when you manage to target well enough. This is in fact the only way to get certain EVA Database entries of airplanes, which are otherwise impossible to acquire.
164** In ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerRedAlert3'', the trend is subverted with the Allies and the Imperials, since the Allies use the Multigunner system and the Imperials use the VX system; both let the commander choose what the turret's going to attack by putting infantry in and out of the turret or changing the configuration of the turret, respectively.
165*** It's also subverted by most units in the game, since the two-weapon system allows some units a choice between anti-air and anti-ground, for example, the Chopper-VX, which is normally an anti-ground chopper but can be switched to an anti-air walker at will. Similarly, the Sea-Wing/Sky-Wing is a submarine that can only fire on air units while in water, and can only fire on ground targets while flying.
166*** This can lead to some interesting stalemates, where a Chopper-VX in walker form encounters an enemy anti-air unit, as the only way for it to attack a ground unit is in chopper form, but changing to chopper form will let the enemy unit return fire.
167*** While the Soviets and Allies' anti-tank infantry can also target air units, the Imperials were cruelly bereft of them until the expansion, where the Archer Maidens finally give them a decent (if GlassCannon) AA and anti-infantry T1 infantry unit (the Imperial commando Yuriko can one-shot air units, but she's a T3 unit).
168*** The Allies' naval AA unit has a SecondaryFire mode that actually ''prevents'' the target from firing and can be used against any target.
169** ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight'' nearly completely subverts the trope - because there's an entire Crawler class dedicated to air, most units now have the capability to strike air - the only exception, Cannon units.
170* Every faction in ''VideoGame/CompanyOfHeroes'' gets access to some form of anti-aircraft weaponry, but since the only aircraft in the game are in the form of doctrine-specific {{Support Power}}s they're employed more for their ability to [[MoreDakka shred infantry and light vehicles]].
171* The KPA in ''VideoGame/{{Crysis}}'' make use of AA turrets during the US invasion of the Lingshan Islands. Nomad has to destroy three of them before the bulk of US forces can land.
172* Flak towers and flak ships in ''VideoGame/{{Deadlock}}'' function as anti-air. Notably, everything else ''can'' attack aerial units, but only flak defense shuts them down entirely.
173* ''VideoGame/DeepRockGalactic'' has many an AirborneMook, such as the Mactera clade of bugs, to hinder your mining expeditions on Hoxxes. The best weapon to deal with them is the Driller's [[FreezeRay Cryo Cannon]] due to its forgiving hit detection and ability to catch many foes in its freezing cone at once, but most importantly, the ability to instantly kill flying enemies once they fully freeze as they [[LiterallyShatteredLives fall to the ground and shatter]]. Flying Rival Tech enemies, while immune to freezing, are vulnerable to the Driller's Flamethrower, which also has the same easy and multiple hits advantage of the Cryo Cannon against flying bugs, if not the insta-kill potential on most enemies. The Scout's Cryo Grenade can also fulfill this role in a pinch, but it requires careful aim with a short-ranged, slow-moving projectile on foes that often attack from a distance and with a height advantage.
174* ''Videogame/DigitalCombatSimulator'' features [=SAM=] sites and Anti-Aircraft Artillery. Fortunately, thanks in part to ArtificialStupidity, the [=SAM=]s keep their targeting radars on all the time, allowing them to be taken out completely with anti-radiation missiles.
175* [[CuteWitch Witches]] in ''VideoGame/DungeonFighterOnline'' can both jump three times AND dash through the air, and since no other class can do this, witches can be a real pain to fight (at least until they got nerfed). The only real effective class against witches are melee [[MightyGlacier Exor]][[ChurchMilitant cists]]. As they swing their axe or [[SinisterScythe scythe]], the [[{{BFS}} weapon is so big]], that when swung upwards for an uppercut, they can easily knock out midair witches (unless they are at the very peak of their jump, or used [[InASingleBound leap]], etc.), much to their fear. As a side note, melee Exorcists won't flinch in the middle of the majority of their attacks, so Exorcists are as hard to approach as Witches are hard to chase.
176* ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsVSkyrim'': The Dragon Rend shout is probably the most evident example, being specifically designed to force dragons to land. However, other Shouts such as Storm Call and Marked for Death are also pretty effective against flying dragons as well: Storm Call will indiscriminately target any non-player entity within a given area, while Marked for Death will severely weaken the armour of anything it hits. Lightning-based Destruction spells are also good for the task too, due to the fact that they are insta-hit.
177* ''VideoGame/EmpireEarth'': Aircraft are divided into two categories: helicopters and balloons, which can be shot down by infantry in addition to anti-air, and planes, which can only be taken down by other planes or anti-air. There's only one dedicated ground Anti Air unit, which is only really effective in large groups and is later upgraded to a mobile missile launcher. One of the most effective is the Partisan unit, which can shoot at anything short of space units (and due to the way the game works, they can shoot down ''satellites''), is available one era before planes as a CurbstompCushion, and can move through trees.
178* ''Franchise/FinalFantasy'' series
179** Aero spells, which are quite effective against flying enemies.
180** Wakka from ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyX'' specializes in striking airborne enemies with his basic physical attack. Other characters suffer a drop in accuracy against flying foes.
181** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXII''; any large flying creatures can only be hit by using a projectile weapon, ie. bow, gun, or certain Techniks, like Telekinesis.
182** In ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'', the Gravity spell grounds flying enemies so the player can attack them. Without it, flying enemies rarely suffer anything more than ScratchDamage from player attacks.
183** Some enemies have a skill called "100 G", which removes the Float status from all characters. (FridgeLogic: Shouldn't they be, like, SquashedFlat?)
184* ''VideoGame/FireEmblem'': Bows and wind magic are effective against winged enemies such as Pegasus and Wyvern units, and even [[{{Dracolich}} Draco Zombies]] in ''[[VideoGame/FireEmblemTheSacredStones The Sacred Stones]]''.
185** In ''VideoGame/FireEmblemRadiantDawn'', [[DragonRider Dracoknights]] instead of being weak to bows are weak to the far less common [[ShockAndAwe thunder magic]], making them (or at least [[OneManArmy Haar]]) largely a GameBreaker.
186* In ''VideoGame/{{FTL|FasterThanLight}}: Advanced Editon'', sometimes battles that take place in orbit around a planet will have a hazard known as Anti-Ship Batteries. These planet-side cannons will fire up at either your ship or the enemy's (but yours more frequently) and while a lot of the shots they fire will miss (since the cannons are on the ground hundreds or thousands of kilometers below you) when they ''do'' hit, they will ignore any shields on the target (even supershields) and inflict a lot of hull damage (if it hits yours, it's 10% of your hull meter).
187* In ''VideoGame/GadgetTrial'', the Anti-Aircraft Artillery unit is the ''only'' surface (non-air) unit that can engage air units. It's usually a one-hit kill, but it's also slow, poorly armored, cannot fire after moving, and incapable of hitting anything else, and unlike in VideoGame/NintendoWars, air units can take advantage of terrain defense bonuses, so for air defense, the player is advised to stick to fighters.
188* Archers and magic units in ''Videogame/GenjuuRyodan'' can two-shot most air units. It helps that most of them do not receive defensive bonuses from terrain.
189* ''VideoGame/GroundControl'' had missle-based AA terradynes for Crayven Corp and bullet-based AA hoverdynes for the Order of the New Dawn.
190** Similar to the ''VideoGame/JustCause'' example above, the Order hoverdynes could hit buildings and ground units if they were on its line of fire even though they were not permitted to directly target these types of targets. Shredding is an accurate description to what happened to those buildings and (rarely) ground units hit by AA fire.
191** Actually the other way around. Dedicated Crayven AA terradynes fired a mass of projectiles while OND AA hoverdynes fired homing balls of lightning. Additionally, both sides had a support vehicle (missile terradyne and beam platform hoverdyne) that, while not quite as effective as the dedicated AA units, would make short work of enemy aerodynes and still could engage most ground targets.
192* ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' gives Gordon Freeman a laser-guided missile launcher that is quite good at taking down Combine gunships.
193* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'':
194** The Covenant have the Anti-Air Wraith. However, it only fires the slow-moving fuel rod bolts, which generally are useless against player-piloted aircraft. As the wiki itself states, most player deaths caused by AA Wraiths are due to the pilot's stupidity.
195** The Covenant also have the Mantis and the Tyrant, both stationary anti-air plasma cannons, with the Tyrant being the heavier of the two. They're a lot more effective at their job than the AA Wraith. The player is tasked with destroying a handful of them in ''VideoGame/HaloReach''.
196** Reach also introduces the AA Shade turret, a variant of the common Shade that's been in the Covenant's arsenal since the first game, but varies in that the gunner seat is completely shielded and it fires plasma rounds that detonate after a certain distance. The only time they're encountered is when the player is on board a Falcon utility helicopter, the weapons of which can destroy the Shade from well outside the turret's maximum range.
197** UNSC rocket/missile launchers can often lock onto enemy vehicles... including aircraft.
198** ''VideoGame/HaloWars'' and ''VideoGame/HaloWars2'' add the UNSC Wolverine and the Banished Reaver, both of which are primarily armed with anti-air rockets/missiles.
199* ''VideoGame/HeartsOfIron'': Being a franchise of historical grand strategy games set in the era of World War 2, it naturally has various anti-air options just like in real life: There's anti-air artillery, tank variations, ship variations, and static anti-air defenses. There's also the fighter-type airplanes that specialize in attacking other aircraft. Some of the ministers that can be hired to your cabinet also provide additional bonuses to anti-air weapons.
200* ''VideoGame/HeavyWeapon'' has the Homing Missiles, which only target aerial enemies and actually do quite a good amount of damage to them. Best used against weak flying Mooks that come with more dangerous land troops (e.g. fighter jets along with tanks).
201* ''VideoGame/HourOfVictory'' has an early stage where you commandeer a set of flak cannons and use it to gun down a wave of German bombers targeting three Allied communications towers. Lose all three and you fail the mission.
202* ''VideoGame/ImpossibleCreatures'' has anti-air towers that unleash bolts of electricity on flying creatures. Given that flyers tend to have fairly low HitPoints and defense stats in the first place, they fall pretty quickly; however, these towers can't hurt land or water-based units.
203* ''VideoGame/{{Infinitode}}'': Air towers are designed to kill Air and Jet enemies only. They excel at it with their overall high stats, though.
204* ''Joint Task Force'' has the SA-11 Russian SAM launcher. It can devastate flying targets at extreme ranges, but nothing else. You also have to capture it since it is not a NATO unit. On your side, you have the German Gepard Flakpanzer, which uses its two 35mm autocannons to great effect against light vehicles, light armor, helicopters, CAS-planes, and, of course, Infantry. Tanks and other vehicles can use their mounted Heavy Machine Guns against helicopters for minimal damage, and Helicopters themselves can use their cannons against other helicopters.
205* ''VideoGame/JustCause2'' gives Rico access to Panuan military hardware, including anti-air flak guns which are hilariously useful against just about anything that happens to cross in front of them--infantry, helicopters, destroyable targets, all are handily shredded by the quad-barrel monstrosity.
206* A few missions in ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' and ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' involve you taking down enemy AA towers on foot so you can get some support from your CoolStarship (being a frigate, it couldn't accurately lay down orbital bombardment and couldn't provide atmospheric support without being shot down by the guns). Static AA defenses range from railguns to lasers and are very effective at their jobs.
207** There's also anti-space guns. They get referenced a few times in 1 and 2, and we finally see an example of an anti-space battery in 3; it's a small building housing three massive 100-meter-long railguns that can accurately hit ships thousands of kilometers away, and take out even the most advanced ships in the galaxy in only a few shots. Granted, they have slower firing rates than ships and no defenses, but they're still good cheap glass cannon defenses. Any attacking force will lose a lot of cruisers if they try to slug it out with the guns, forcing them to either take the losses or send in large amounts of commandos. That said, dreadnoughts, with their extremely long ranges of tens of thousands of kilometers, can pretty much ignore the guns, though actually bombarding a planet with a dreadnought is equivalent to nuking your enemies in our universe. Probably because a single slug from a dreadnought impacts with three times the force of the Hiroshima bomb and a dreadnought can fire one out every two seconds with near InfiniteAmmo. Not many factions have dreadnoughts, though not have such powerful defenses either.
208* ''VideoGame/MasterOfMagic'' has the "Web" spell in the Nature Magic category, which momentarily immobilizes pretty much any unit. When used against flying enemies, even once they chop their way free of the web strands and can move again, web remnants prevent them from flying again, and they are ground-bound for the rest of the combat.
209* ''Videogame/MechWarrior Living Legends'' has the Huitzilopitchli and Partisan anti-air tanks. [[MoreDakka They spew out hilarious amounts of ammunition at anything that flies]], and are [[InstantDeathRadius surprisingly effective]] against [[PoweredArmor battlearmor]]. The Rifleman [[HumongousMecha battlemech]] is an anti-air battlemech - it's overall less powerful than the tanks, but is faster and has a much more stable firing platform that can peak over hills. Some regular assets mounting the LB-X shotguns or a [[MagneticWeapons Heavy Gauss Rifle]] can deal crazy amounts of damage to dive-bombing aircraft, but most lack the necessary max pitch to be able to hit the high-altitude aircraft.
210* At one point in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime3Corruption'', Samus needs to call in her gunship to destroy a particular target. It turns out that the target is protected by AA defenses, forcing her to find and disable them on foot.
211* In ''VideoGame/MonsterHunter'', the most reliable way to ground a flying monster is to throw a Flash Bomb in front of their face, sending them crashing back down to the ground due to losing control of their body, including their wings, and helplessly writhing for several seconds. However, a few monsters seem to have adapted to this trick: the Dreadking Rathalos in ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterGenerations'' can get stunned but they ''won't'' fall out of the air, and a post-release patch for ''VideoGame/MonsterHunterWorld'' makes Tempered monsters [[AcquiredPoisonImmunity resistant to Flash Pods after being affected enough times]].
212* ''VisualNovel/MuvLuv'': Laser-class BETA in ''[[VisualNovel/MuvLuvUnlimited Unlimited]]'' and ''[[VisualNovel/MuvLuvAlternative Alternative]]''. They have their limitations--as strictly line-of-sight weapons, they're foiled by terrain relatively easily, and they're helpless at close range--but they're tremendously destructive to aircraft or any [[AMechByAnyOtherName TSF]] that flies too high, making traditional air support methods suicidal. They're also noted to be extremely good at defending against artillery, with artillery units attempting counter-battery fire frequently running out of ammunition before making a dent in the Laser-classes' numbers.
213* The ''VideoGame/NavalOps'' games require you to mount anti-air weapons on your ships if you don't want to be blown to bits by swarms of enemy aircraft. [=SAMs=] can only target aircraft, but machine guns double as [[PointDefenseless point defense weapons]] for taking down missiles and torpedos.
214* ''VideoGame/{{Nectaris}}'' has the Seeker AAG-4, a sort of light tank designed to be more effective against aircraft than against ground units, the Hawkeye M-107, a dedicated anti-aircraft artillery unit with formidable power and range, and the Falcon FX-1, a plane that can only attack other planes.
215* ''VideoGame/OperationFlashpoint'' appropriately features classic RealLife self-propelled AA artillery vehicles of its UsefulNotes/ColdWar era setting: The [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZSU-23-4_Shilka ZSU-23-4 "Shilka"]] on the Soviet side and the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M163_VADS M163 VADS "Vulcan"]] on the NATO side.
216* ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'': Ramattra's Ravenous Vortex is primarily an area-of-effect slowing tool, but it also comes with the ability to pull enemies to the ground much faster than normal. While its vertical hitbox isn't large enough to pull down most heroes with actual flight abilities (Pharah and Echo can easily reach heights that outrange the storm), it's still a strong tool that makes maneuverability much more difficult for the enemy.
217* ''VideoGame/PlanetaryAnnihilation'' has Missile Turrets that attack land and air units and the more beefier Flak Turret that only targets air but is extremely efficient at it. Also for each of the unit types, there is one that deals with air, you'll need a few of those in each army to prevent being bombed.
218* In ''Videogame/PlanetSide 2'', players have many choices in anti-air weaponry, but most are [[ScrappyWeapon pretty terrible even for their designed purpose]]. Most take the form of Flak (the mediocre Skyguard tank cannon and PoweredArmor Burster cannons, terrible Phalanx base turret, and godawful Ranger vehicle turret), handheld rocket launchers (Annihilator, Swarm, and the Terran Republic-exclusive Striker), or pure dakka (Walker). In practice, the best AA weapon is the Walker courtesy of its monstrous 1 kilometer/second velocity, unerring accuracy and great damage paired with a deceptively weak impact noise for the enemy pilot. Back when the Prowler tank's [[DualModeUnit Anchored Mode]] provided a whopping 60% increase in cannon velocity, Prowler drivers would prop the tank up on hills [[NotTheIntendedUse and use the armor-piercing cannon to shoot down aircraft]].
219* ''VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies'' partially avoids the above. The Cactus, which can shoot down [[AirborneMook Balloon Zombies]], can still damage ground units as well. The Cattail can hit any zombie anywhere in the field, airborne or not. Only the Blover is highly specialized to deal with air units, and it still has the secondary effect of [[DefogOfWar temporarily removing mist]].
220** But in a strange twist, the Blover's overspecialization actually cripples the CACTUS too. Balloon Zombies are so rare that it is usually not worth planting a Cactus in each lane to guarantee that you pop their balloons. Blovers are less cost-efficient, but you can plant Repeaters or something else with more firepower/other uses instead of the Cactus to use the ''spaces'' more efficiently instead. Not to mention that you need five Cacti to be sure that you don't let anything through which costs 125 sun more compared to just planting Peashooters there instead (for the same firepower but no anti-air capabilities). A Blover, on the other hand, costs 100 sun. So if you only see one wave of Balloon Zombies, the Blover becomes more cost-efficient too! Besides, sometimes you just can't afford the extra time it takes to kill one more zombie, so you're really happy that you can instantly kill them with a Blover instead of just grounding them.
221** In [[VideoGame/PlantsVsZombies2ItsAboutTime the sequel]], the Kernel-pult can instantly kill Seagull Zombies if they lob butter at it. The Blover returns and can instantly kill Seagull Zombies, [[JetPack Jetpack and Disco Jetpack Zombies]], Dodo Rider Zombies (when airborne), and Bug Zombies. The Hurrikale functions similarly to the Blover except it affects Zombies on the lane it was planted on.
222* ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'':
223** The move Gravity nullifies a Flying-type's immunity to Ground-type attacks, as well as the effects of Magnet Rise and Telekinesis.
224** The Iron Ball item grounds the holder.
225** The move Roost is a self-inflicted Anti Air move that nullifies the user's Flying-type for a turn in return for HP recovery. The move Ingrain makes the user susceptible to Ground moves, regardless if it is a Flying-type, has the Levitate ability, or has used Magnet Rise or Telekinesis.
226** Stealth Rock does extra damage to Flying-type Pokémon, [[GameBreaker among other types]].
227** Twister, [[{{Shoryuken}} Sky Uppercut]], Gust, and Thunder do double damage to a Pokémon that's taken to the air. In addition, a new move called Smack Down (bonus points for literally being called "Anti Air" in the French translation) involves throwing a rock at the opponent, which knocks flyers to the ground. It's funny having [[MoreDakka all your Pokemon use it at once in a 3-on-3 battle.]]
228** Anti-air techniques are so strong in Pokémon that Flying-types are rarely seen in competitive play, although the ability Levitate is seen frequently as it's not subject to the same anti-air rules as the Flying type.
229** Zygarde's SecretArt Thousand Arrows is a Ground-type move that hits airborne enemies and grounds them. To date, [[ScissorsCutsRock it's the only Ground-type attack that can damage Flying-types and Pokémon with Levitate without prior setup]].
230* ''VideoGame/ProjectReality'' has anti-aircraft guns on many of the maps, and even has a class just for this role, toting a shoulder-launched SAM (Surface to Air Missile) such as the American-made FIM-92 Stinger or the Russian-made SA-7 Grail.
231* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil6'': In the connected parts of Chris, Piers, Sherry, and Jake's campaign has the BSAA needing to take out anti-aircraft guns before they can call an airstrike on an Ogroman.
232* All ranged units in ''VideoGame/RiseOfLegends'' can attack aircraft, but the Alin's Eternal Flame structure constantly spits bolts of fire at aircraft, and the Alin's Heartseeker unit is especially effective against air units. The Vinci and Cuotl prefer to use their own fighters to counter other air units, especially the Cuotl's Storm Disk.
233* In ''VideoGame/SaveTheLight'', some attacks such as Pearl's Spear Throw and Peridot's Metal Powers (where she hurls her tablet at her foes) are capable of hitting flying enemies.
234* In the ''VideoGame/SeventhDragon'' series, attacks that are classified as "Aerial" inflict extra damage to airborne enemies.
235* Most ordinary combat units in ''VideoGame/ShatteredGalaxy'' will usually have attacks dedicated to anti-air or anti-ground. There exist "versatile" units and weapons that can attack both, but they are generally considered to be unfit for either role and therefore only good for beginners who have yet to learn the system.
236* ''VideoGame/Sly3HonorAmongThieves'' has a mission during the final level where the player is tasked with eliminating the BigBad's anti-air defenses which consist of automated missile turrets.
237* ''Franchise/StarCraft'': The Terran Marine, Zerg Hydralisk and the Protoss Dragon can all attack air units. The Terran Missile Turret and Zerg Spore Colony are exclusively anti-air structures, while the Protoss photon cannon can hit both air and ground units. The Terran Goliath is a specialised anti-air unit with a much weaker ground attack. The expansion ''Brood War'' gave each race a new flying anti-air only unit: Terrans get the Valkyrie, a ship with a [[MacrossMissileMassacre splash-damage attack]]; the Protoss got the Corsair, which relies on BeamSpam, and the Zerg got the Devourer, which uses a corrosive attack that slows attack and movement speed and reduces armor, which splashes and can be stacked.
238** ''VideoGame/StarcraftII'' also gives each race a flying AA unit: the Terrans get Vikings, which can switch between being anti-air-only fliers or anti-ground-only ground units at will[[note]]with a delay for transformation time, [[CompetitiveBalance of course]][[/note]]. The Protoss get Phoenixes, which are essentially upgraded Corsairs with the ability to suspend ground units in the air temporarily, allowing other AA units to attack them. Finally, the Zerg get Corruptors, similar to Devourers except that their ability only increases the enemy's damage taken, is used separately rather than as an effect added to the basic attack, and doesn't splash or stack. The Thor also has a devastating ground-to-air missile barrage attack, designed almost exclusively to take out groups of mutalisks.
239* ''VideoGame/StarWarsGalacticBattlegrounds'' has extremely fragile AA Troopers, less fragile AA Mobiles, decently durable AA turrets, and psychotically resilient Fortresses for all your AA needs. (Fortresses can shoot pretty much anything since they're also fitted with ground-based lasers.) The general rule of thumb is that if it shoots rockets, it kills flyers.
240* ''VideoGame/SupremeCommander'' has two levels of ground-based mobile anti-air units. With the exception of the Cybran T1 anti-air gun, none of these units can target anything on the ground. On the other hand, all those guns on naval units aren't just for show; most ships have at least some kind of AA defenses in addition to their big guns: autoguns, flak cannons, [=SAMs=]/nanodart launchers, etc. Cruisers have ''[[MacrossMissileMassacre serious]]'' anti-air capabilities in addition to their surface-to-surface cruise missiles. And we haven't even got to the kind of AA firepower some [[SuperPrototype experimentals]] carry...
241* ''VideoGame/TeamFortress2'': The Direct Hit and Reserve Shooter inflict [[CriticalHit mini critical hits]] on airborne targets depending on certain situations.
242* ''VideoGame/{{Terraria}}'':
243** There's an enemy that's like this towards the player. The {{Cr|eepyCentipedes}}awltipedes that appear when fighting the Solar Pillar will ignore any grounded player, but if a player takes to the air, they will home in on said player ''very quickly'' and deal an incredible amount of constant CollisionDamage.
244** The [[MeaningfulName Aerial Bane]] is specifically designed for this: It fires a spread of explosive arrows that deal increased damage to airborne enemies.
245* ''VideoGame/TotalAnnihilation'' had missile units that could hit everything. They did pitiful damage, but they were only units that could track air units, which in turn had very low health. They ended up being spammed against ground targets anyway. The expansion pack added dedicated flak units that could only target aircraft but destroyed them even more effectively.
246* ''VideoGame/Transformers2004'' features the tiny purple [[EquippableAlly Minicon]] Airburst, whose special ability is turning into a flak cannon capable of [[OneHitKill one-shotting]] any common aerial enemy, such as the annoying [[GoddamnedBats Jet Snipers]], with ease.
247* Works both ways in ''Videogame/{{Ubersoldier}}'' where one stage sees you manning a Gatling turret on a captured German submarine to fend off enemy bombers, while another have you infiltrate a Nazi fort and destroying the various AA-cannons with timed explosives for Allied aircrafts to land.
248* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'':
249** Basic range units like the Night Elves' archers, the Orcs' Troll {{Javelin Thrower}s, and the Humans' Dwarven Riflemen. They deal weak damage individually so a number of them are usually needed.
250** Most defense tower buildings outside of the specialized cannon tower of the Humans.
251** Humans have the Dragonhawk Rider's Aerial Shackles spell, which prevents the captured unit from moving ''or'' attacking while doing large amounts of damage all the while; their Steam Tanks can be upgraded to fire rockets at multiple flyers simultaneously, their [[FragileSpeedster Flying Machines]] can receive the ability to do splash damage to air units.
252** Undead's Crypt Fiends can shoot webs that force flyers to the ground so ground units (including the Crypt Fiend) can attack them, and the Gargoyle has a melee claw strike that deals considerably more damage against other airborne units than the beam attack they use against ground ones.
253** Orcs can use Raiders' nets to the same effect or use their Batriders' suicide attacks to deal large amounts of damage to multiple air units.
254** Night Elves can have their Hippogryph Riders dismount, turning a ranged air unit into a separate strong melee flyer and a ranged ground attacker in no time at all. Their entire army being based on multiple ranged units, flyers tend not to last very long against a volley of arrows. The Hippogryphs also deal huge melee damage in the air just like Gargoyles.
255** Heroes with range attacks. Some of their abilities/spells work too, such as the Mountain King's Storm Bolt (which stuns in addition to dealing huge damage).
256** Also, the elemental orbs are buffed in the ''Frozen Throne'' ExpansionPack to allow melee {{Hero Unit}}s to attack air units without having to resort to special abilities and spells.
257* ''VideoGame/{{Warframe}}'':
258** The Grineer settlements on Mars are equipped with giant cannons aimed skywards that fire at something, probably some ships of the Corpus they are at war with.
259** The Grineer Archgun Grattler's design is based off of real world anti-aircraft guns. This is further supported because associated files for the Grattler refer to it as "[=ArchGRNAAGUN=]", which can be seen as an abbreviation of "'''Arch'''wing '''Grin'''eer '''AA Gun'''".
260* ''VideoGame/WargameRedDragon'' and its predecessors have a variety of missile and gun AA on their ground units, ships, other aircraft, and even infantry. The weapons differentiate themselves by a number of factors, but mostly what kind of targeting system they use: Infrared, Radar, or Optical. They vary hugely in effectiveness, from the laughable Blowpipe missile to the terrifying Phoenix missile. Also notable in that AA guns rip infantry apart faster than anything but napalm, while AA missiles can't target ground units at all, but if a shot ''misses'' and hits the enemy below it, they explode. TruthInTelevision, too, as anybody who has seen a late-series Tunguska could tell you.
261* ''VideoGame/WorldInConflict'' has something in each role that can deal with targets in the air. Standard infantry squads carry a portable AA launcher, Support role has access to the best anti-air vehicles, and the Air role itself has helicopters with air-to-air missiles. True to the game's RockPaperScissors balance, the Ground role is the odd one out, with only one real AA-capable unit... and it'll still lose in a fair fight.
262* Carriers in the ''Videogame/{{X}}-Universe'' series are capable of mounting massed anti-fighter weapons, such as the Starburst Shockwave Cannon, Flak Artillery Array, or the [[WaveMotionGun Phased Shockwave Generator]], all of which slaughter any fighter dumb enough to get close with extremely fast, high-explosive splash damage bolts. Destroyers and frigates typically have to make do with flak coverage only on their topside and bottom.
263[[/folder]]
264
265[[folder:Webcomics]]
266* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': The Torchmen of Mechanicsburg are the formidable city's primary air defense system, and are widely feared throughout Europa. Prior to the Castle's near destruction, old airshipmen had a bit of poem they all memorized which demonstrates that just the threat of the Torchmen was enough to keep everyone who didn't have a death wish out of Mechanicsburg airspace. This despite the ubiquitous nature of military airships in the setting.
267-->'''Kraddok:''' "If you'd live to see the end of day, from Mechanicsburg two leagues stay."\
268'''Airman:''' That's a ''lousy'' poem.\
269'''Kraddok:''' Oh yeah. Effective, though.\
270'''Airman:''' Two leagues, uh... whose leagues? And what's that in ''kilometers?''\
271'''Kraddok:''' How the freefalling hell would I know!? WE JUST ''STAYED AWAY FROM THE PLACE!''
272[[/folder]]
273
274[[folder:Web Videos]]
275* ''WebVideo/StampysLovelyWorld'': A particularly horrifying example in Episode [[spoiler:541, "I Lost"]], where the BigBad uses this in ''cannon'' form to [[spoiler:ambush and shoot Stampy down in his personal civilian helicopter]].
276[[/folder]]
277
278[[folder:Western Animation]]
279* ''WesternAnimation/TVOfTomorrow'': One of the TV sets showcased in this short has a built-in set of anti-aircraft guns that deploy automatically and blow any airplanes flying over the house ([[DisproportionateRetribution disrupting the TV signal]]) right out of the sky. The short also shows how AwesomeButImpractical this device is when the camera moves to a side and shows the multiple crashed airplanes littering the house's living room.
280[[/folder]]

Top