The only context in which I’ve heard the term “Fox” for a missile is in the cockpit of a fighter jet.
Fox Three means an active radar missile, used air-to-air usually, air-to-ground in special cases. “Active” means it has its own radar transmitter to illuminate the target, rather than relying on the aircraft radar to paint the target until intercept. A common term is “fire and forget”, meaning the aircraft can release the missile and then evade while not emitting any RF.
The AIM-120C AMRAAM is the active radar missile we use. Advanced Medium Range Air-Air Missile. It’s the slimmed down technological descendant of the massive AIM-54 Phoenix missile the Navy used on F-14 Tomcats.
The AMRAAM can be ground-launched at an airborne target, but I don’t believe the Fox callout would be typical in that case. I believe it’s for pilots only.
The only context in which I’ve heard the term “Fox” for a missile is in the cockpit of a fighter jet. With all this missile talk, I had a thought. If indeed this was a defensive action, who's to say it was the ONLY defensive action. Another poster suggested, and I agree with him, that firing from that populated location seems the act of the last minute with no time to prepare or move to a better location.
If that is the case, then whatever assets were available at that critical time would have been called into play. It just so happens that a weather cam caught this missile launch. Perhaps other ordinance was fired from other assets (ships/planes/subs) but they weren't captured on camera.
Fox 3 could be referring to that or maybe even be used in a general sense.
Eh? Possibilities.
Bagster
