Originally, the airframe was to use a rocket, which is actually why it had angled-armor in the forward fuselage (the propellant/oxidizer was hypergolic), but ramming attacks would still be dangerous because of the fact that, in the event that the concussive forces bust the rest of the tanks, you'll explode. Even if that is avoided, the yaw control was through decelerons that were operated by valves that were airflow actuated (they'd likely rendered inoperative by metal debris).
Once you have jet-engines, they'd get fodded as you describe by the airframe you flew through!