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Ok so one day last week i was sitting on class and I had an idea. I know older AA missiles both nato and Warsaw-pact can be dodged by a fighter if the pilot is quick on there toes. But i had an idea that a missile air to ground or air to air could track its target but instead of impacting it would detonate and send out a cone of razor shrapnel toward the aircraft. However Im curious if that would do damage enough to bring it down. I know it could kill the pilot at the right angle but what about the rest of the aircraft?

kinda but it seeks out the aircraft and fragments at close range.

Just sounds a little pointless. Like, the missile detonates a directed grenade at the plane? Why not just have the missile ram it like they already do? You put a bowling-ball sized hole into any place on a small aircraft and, one way or another, it's pretty much coming down.

Why put more expensive technology in it to do the same thing? Unless you mean have the missile do the directed grenade blast and then ram the plane, well that's better. But from a military budget standpoint, ramming is enough, especially since it rams, then explodes inside the plane. What's worse, a grenade going off next to you, or swallowing one?

You mean like a shaped charge?

They already do that. Some missiles explode near their targets, and cause shrapnel damage, even if they don't hit it dead on.

Confirmed, yes they do.