To explore the failure modes of the targets subjected to oblique impact of the projectiles with hemispherical nose， ballistic tests were carried out and the attitude of the projectiles was captured with the high-speed camera. The damage modes of projectiles as well as targets were analyzed and the apertures of the targets were measured. It was shown that the dynamic response of the target was not completely symmetric under oblique impact and the target was divided into four partitions according to the mechanic characteristics, which were contact area, bending area, tensile area and symmetric area. The penetration process was divided into four stages which was bulge, dishing, bending and perforating, according to the deformation modes. The failure modes of the targets consist of four typical patterns with the variation of the initial velocity of the missiles. The first one was bulge-dishing-deformation when the initial velocity was low to the ballistic limit. The second one was bulge-dishing-tensile & bend tearing when the velocity was higher. The third one was bulge-dishing-tensile & bend shearing with the increase of the velocity. The fourth one was bulge- tensile & bend shearing when the velocity was largely higher than the ballistic velocity. The aperture of the targets in the front view was elliptical when subjected to oblique impact of the projectiles with hemispherical nose and it was gradually transferred to the oval with the increase of the velocity.