[Deth B0y]

That depends entirely on the situation; the only one i can think of that would be a "hit" even if it went off nearby is a anti-aircraft missile (because of things being sucked into the intake, perforating the wings, etc).

Most anti-armor type missiles arne't just a big ball of boom: thier a bit more finesse then that. If they go off without contacting the armor (or even the *right* armor, in some cases), they won't do as much damage, with much of thier energy being wasted.

That's why aircraft carriers have those phalnax guns - they don't have much range, but it's enough to safely explode the missile without endangering the ship. By the same token, if you could turn the ship so that a heavily armored peice would be the contact point, you'd probably at least reduce it's effectiveness.

Not to mention, if the warhead is of a complex enough type it might need armed before it even *could* detonate (like with a binary agent, or some kind of physics thing)

just a thought,
deth