Point Defenseless/Sandbox



Point defense guns protect a single asset at close range. They turn up in air and space combat, defending airfields and dreadnoughts from incoming missiles and fighters. Point defense guns never kill the heros. A Red Shirt's fighter can be slagged, to show just how dangerous the guns are, but the audience knows it would ruin the story if the heros died such an abrupt and ignominious death. Mooks however, can die by the score.

Ace Pilots are guaranteed to out-jink the crosshairs. This is true whether they face automatic turrets or manual ones.

The trope applies in both air and space combat. When the guns do work, it is nonlethal: the heros may be shot down, but will live to fight another day.

A form of Plot Armour. Expect to see this trope when the story hinges on at least one pilot getting through to win the day. Real Life Anti-Air doesn't pick favourites, and counters are limited: distraction and staying out of range.

Previous version.


Or Pointless Defense. Or Close In Weaksauce System if you want to use the modern acronym.

This trope covers point defense guns, especially of the automated turret variety, that are shown to be useless for anything other than swatting cannon fodder. While aces may have been able to out-jink crosshairs at a time when aiming was done manually, they weren't usually as successful as most fictional hotshots. A bit further on, modern computer guided AA weapons pose a real threat to all stealthless manned aircraft (and just about anything in space), regardless of performance or pilot skill. It's one of the reasons stealth technology and BVR (Beyond Visual Range) weapons were developed, anyway. Today, the Red Baron himself would not be able to outmaneuver 20 Phalanxes firing in unison even with the latest generation of attack plane.

In fiction, though, it's par for the course regardless of how advanced the technology is. All the bullets in the Universe can't change the fact that someone is going to get through with the bomb and escape alive, to boot. Automated turrets also can not claim the usual excuses.

This can be excused to some extent for defense guns having a "dead zone" to prevent them from damaging the very thing they were made to protect. A lucky enemy who evaded the initial fire somehow could skim the surface of the target to deliver a payload.

In case you're wondering, commonly accepted counters to Real Life AA fire include distraction, hiding or staying out of range, anything but learning improbable Barrel Roll skills. This trope is one of the key obstacles to Shoot the Bullet.