This type of warfare is divided into "hard kill" and "soft kill." Hard kill refers to the deployment on missile warheads of weapons with directional capability-using, for example, lasers, microwaves, electromagnetic pulse, and particle beams-which could increase the destructiveness of missiles.
這種分為「硬殺」與「軟殺」的戰爭，「硬殺」就與飛彈有關，飛彈彈頭的「定向能武器」可以打出高能量的雷射、微波、無線電波、或粒子光束，都將提高飛彈的破壞力。