Timeline for What is meant by "Fox Two"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
21 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Feb 2, 2023 at 20:41 | comment | added | reirab | @Benson_YoureFired If the pilots were allowed to continue flying, I wonder whether their crews painted silhouettes of their previous aircraft on their next one? | |
| Feb 2, 2023 at 19:02 | comment | added | Benson_YoureFired | @reirab It was a F11F Tiger, in 1956, during a live-fire cannon test in a Mach 1 dive. The bullets were slowed down by drag and the plane was going so fast that it shot itself. The pilot had to ditch. It happened with a F14 in 1973 and a F16 in 2009. | |
| Feb 1, 2023 at 18:11 | comment | added | reirab | @abelenky I seem to recall at least one incident of an aircraft shooting itself. With guns. So, friendly fire might not be as farfetched of a possibility as you'd think. | |
| Feb 1, 2023 at 15:03 | comment | added | Darrel Hoffman | @U.Windl Specifically "Fox" is short for "Foxtrot", which is the NATO phoenetic code for the letter "F", and yes it does mean "Fire". This should probably be added in the answer, but you can see it on the Wikipedia link under the word "Fox". | |
| Feb 1, 2023 at 10:14 | comment | added | ScottishTapWater | I'm fairly sure most modern (at least NATO standard missiles) have IFF capabilities no? | |
| Feb 1, 2023 at 8:15 | comment | added | U. Windl | And it seems to me that "Fox" stands for the letter "F" (maybe in turn for "fire/firing"). So the number following is the category of what has being launched/fired. | |
| Feb 1, 2023 at 2:05 | comment | added | Andrew T. | There's also an unofficial joke that "Fox 4" is using the aircraft itself as a weapon (ref: Google Groups, Reddit) | |
| S Jan 31, 2023 at 18:14 | history | suggested | Schwern | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Add links, examples, explanations, and Fox 4.
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| Jan 31, 2023 at 17:49 | review | Suggested edits | |||
| S Jan 31, 2023 at 18:14 | |||||
| Jan 31, 2023 at 8:11 | comment | added | GremlinWranger | @abelenky on the 'why do weapon launch brevity words exist in general' is that often launches are made to another orders, so the codeword is your 'I have complied with your command, now doing the next thing'. In the world of equipment from the lowest bidder can also mean 'all my technology worked, backup weapons can be reprioritized'. Finally it also means 'any command to NOT kill this target is now irrelevant'. | |
| Jan 31, 2023 at 3:22 | comment | added | Todd Wilcox | One great reason to announce the launch of a missile and the type is so that your wing and flight and command are aware of your remaining weapons load. They also would all know the number of bandits and approximate range of engagement. This keeps the situational awareness up for everyone, which means everyone can make informed decisions. "Guns guns guns" is also called when guns are used. Combined with "splash one" for kills, the radio alone can be an effective situational awareness tool. | |
| Jan 31, 2023 at 3:02 | comment | added | Loren Pechtel | @abelenky I wouldn't say it's impossible--if you're already near the target getting in the way of the missile is certainly possible. | |
| Jan 31, 2023 at 3:00 | comment | added | Loren Pechtel | @abelenky In movies it's Fox 2 because that's what you would fire in a dogfight--and in the movies it's a dogfight for drama. Radar guided missiles are typically used in reasonably long range engagements that are blips on the radar--not much for the silver screen. | |
| Jan 31, 2023 at 1:31 | comment | added | fectin | @WPNSGuy "How do friendly-fire incidents happen?" sounds like a separate question. | |
| Jan 30, 2023 at 22:08 | comment | added | WPNSGuy | Seeing as there have been documented air to air kills from 28km, Turkish F-16 v Syrian MiG....doesn't seem to unlikely to me. 28km is about 30 seconds flight time for an AMRAAM. That sounds like a lot of space and time. | |
| Jan 30, 2023 at 17:12 | comment | added | abelenky | @WPNSGuy: Scenes from "Top Gun: Maverick" not withstanding, it is virtually impossible for a friendly craft to maneuver fast enough to get in front of an un-intended missile even deliberately, much less accidentally. It is also the responsibility of the Pilot firing the missile to fire only when the target path is clear of friendlies. | |
| Jan 30, 2023 at 16:53 | comment | added | WPNSGuy | @abelenky - "What're you supposed to do when you hear that from your fellow pilots?" Don't get between the missile and its intended target. Otherwise, it may lock on to YOU. | |
| Jan 30, 2023 at 16:27 | comment | added | abelenky | Good to know there are other kinds of "Foxes", that aren't frequently shown in fiction. However, why does it need to be called out at all? What're you supposed to do when you hear that from your fellow pilots? For AAR purposes, wouldn't the flight recorder and other data sources show what weapon was fired at what time at which target? | |
| Jan 30, 2023 at 16:21 | history | edited | Benson_YoureFired | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added source
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| S Jan 30, 2023 at 16:16 | review | First answers | |||
| Jan 30, 2023 at 19:15 | |||||
| S Jan 30, 2023 at 16:16 | history | answered | Benson_YoureFired | CC BY-SA 4.0 |