How to Choose Air Defense Weapons for Modern Warships Recommendations for Civilian Air Defense Configurations on Modern Warships

In modern warships, the air defense system is the core of survival and team support. Casual players need to balance cost-effectiveness with practical effectiveness. So, how do you play the air defense system for casual players in modern warships today? Actually, air defense is quite simple; as long as it is reasonably matched, it can have good results. Next, I will discuss ship positioning and weapon selection to bring you a guide on low-resource investment air defense, helping newcomers quickly build a relatively effective air defense system.

Level 1 ships generally have weak air defense capabilities, and it is recommended to use the PC3 Hurricane or Type 022. The PC3 has only 1-2 air defense slots, which can be equipped with curved missiles (short range but high interception rate) or Goalkeeper machine guns (high fire rate). In combat, prioritize manually locking onto anti-ship missiles, and when encountering a group of aircraft, immediately launch chaff and run away. The threat from aircraft in Level 1 matches is small, so resources should be prioritized for upgrading the main gun and missiles. Air defense upgrades to blue quality are sufficient, saving gold coins for purchasing Level 2 ships, or skipping directly to Level 2 ships.

The Horizon-class or Shirane is the preferred choice for Level 2. The Horizon-class comes with an OTO 76 main gun (automatic air defense) + OSA. For the air defense slots, use the curved + Sea Red Flag combination, where the curved intercepts close-range missiles and the Sea Red Flag takes out any missed aircraft. When operating manually, first target anti-ship missiles (such as BrahMos), then switch to bombers. The Shirane has weaker air defense, so it's advisable to use smoke grenades to hide behind cover and rely on the main gun for output.

The Nanchang 055 is the pinnacle of air defense for casual players, with 6 air defense slots recommended for SeaRAM (missile interception) + Pantsir-M (anti-aircraft). In games with many submarines, replace the rocket launcher with ASW anti-submarine, and use Osprey for reconnaissance. Manual priority: anti-ship missiles > bombers > fighters. Upgrade the SeaRAM to purple first, and the Pantsir-M to blue.

The Shandong or Cavour is suitable as the main air defense. The Shandong has 10 air defense slots, equipped with S-400 (long-range) + Kashtan (close-range), and manually locks onto Dongfeng or Tomahawk missiles. Don't deploy all carrier-based aircraft; keep F-15E for anti-submarine. The Cavour should carry more Aster, but needs to stay behind mountains to avoid being focused. Generally, the carrier's air defense helps teammates intercept missiles, not taking hits itself. Prioritize upgrading missile interception systems (like SeaRAM, S-400), and upgrade close-range guns (like Kashtan) to blue, which is sufficient.

The above is the air defense setup for casual players in modern warships. The key to casual air defense is manual target switching and cost-effective mixing. Level 1 ships can be makeshift, Level 2 mixes long and short-range, Level 3 focuses on interception, and carriers serve as team shields. Following this approach to develop the 055 or Horizon-class, resources won't be wasted and you can steadily climb the ranks.