Board Thread:General Discussion/@comment-25142096-20140927184716/@comment-25467429-20140930060911

Damage I believe is meant to refer more to potential rahter than actual. You might notice that there are certain upgrades (stealth coating comes to mind) that increases the Damage bar, although nothing about htat upgrade should directly effect the power of missiles. In this regard, the potential damage of two planes can be castly different even if the actual damage of the weapons may be identical. The F-22 as a stealth plane, as a plane later on the tree that holds more weapons, has more damage potential than most other planes, thus its bar being as high as it is. It's a little stupid to measure things that way, but that seems to be the most consistent explanation.