Fire-and-forget is a type of

missile guidance Missile guidance refers to a variety of methods of guiding a missile or a guided bomb to its intended target. The missile's target accuracy is a critical factor for its effectiveness. Guidance systems improve missile accuracy by improving its P ...

which does not require further external intervention after launch such as illumination of the target or

wire guidance A wire-guided missile is a missile that is guided by signals sent to it via thin wires connected between the missile and its guidance mechanism, which is located somewhere near the launch site. As the missile flies, the wires are reeled out behi ...

, and can hit its target without the launcher being in line-of-sight of the target. This is an important property for a guided weapon to have, since a person or vehicle that lingers near the target to guide the missile (using, for instance, a

laser designator A laser designator is a laser light source which is used to designate a target. Laser designators provide targeting for laser-guided bombs, missiles, or precision artillery munitions, such as the Paveway series of bombs, AGM-114 Hellfire, o ...

) is vulnerable to attack and unable to carry out other tasks. Generally, information about the target is programmed into the missile just prior to launch. This can include coordinates, radar measurements (including velocity), or an infrared image of the target. After it is fired, the missile guides itself by some combination of gyroscopes and accelerometers,

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a Radionavigation-satellite service, satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of t ...

, onboard

active radar homing Active radar homing (ARH) is a missile guidance method in which a missile contains a radar transceiver (in contrast to semi-active radar homing, which uses only a receiver) and the electronics necessary for it to find and track its target aut ...

, and

infrared homing Infrared homing is a passive weapon guidance system which uses the infrared (IR) light emission from a target to track and follow it seamlessly. Missiles which use infrared seeking are often referred to as "heat-seekers" since infrared is radi ...

optics. Some systems offer the option of either continued input from the launch platform or fire-and-forget. Fire-and-forget missiles can be vulnerable to soft-kill systems on modern main battle tanks, in addition to existing

hard-kill A countermeasure is a measure or action taken to counter or offset another one. As a general concept, it implies precision and is any technological or tactical solution or system designed to prevent an undesirable outcome in the process. The fi ...

systems. As opposed to unguided RPGs which require a hard-kill system (a counter projectile(s) used to destroy the incoming missile), fire-and-forget missiles can often be jammed by means such as electro-optical dazzlers.

Examples

Many of these are

missiles; some of the remainder (e.g. AIM-120) are active radar guided. Trigat-LR-detoured

AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER The AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack Missile-Expanded Response) is an advanced stand off precision-guided, air-launched cruise missile produced by Boeing Defense, Space & Security for the United States Armed Forces and their allies. Deve ...

AAM-4 The Mitsubishi AAM-4 (Type 99 air-to-air missile, ) is a medium-range active radar homing air-to-air missile. It is a modern beyond-visual-range missile developed in Japan and intended to replace the semi-active radar homing AIM-7 Sparrow missile ...

(Type 99 AAM) *

AASM AASM may refer to: * Armement Air-Sol Modulaire, a French precision guided munition * Australian Active Service Medal * American Academy of Sleep Medicine, a professional organization * The Anglo-American School of Moscow The Anglo-American Sch ...

HAMMER
(SBU-38, -54, -64) *

Akeron MP The Akeron MP (''Akeron Moyenne Portée''),/sup> * Fire-and-Forget * Man In The Loop with optical fiber data-link * Lock-on after launch (LOAL) for non-line-of-sight (NLOS) and using third party target designation. Despite these new features, i ...

AGM-65 Maverick The AGM-65 Maverick is an air-to-ground missile (AGM) designed for close air support. It is the most widely produced precision-guided missile in the Western world, and is effective against a wide range of tactical targets, including armor, ...

AGM-84 Harpoon The Harpoon is an all-weather, over-the-horizon, anti-ship missile manufactured by McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Defense, Space & Security). The AGM-84E Standoff Land Attack Missile (SLAM) and later AGM-84H/K SLAM-ER (Standoff Land Attack ...

* AGM-114L Longbow Hellfire *

AIM-9 Sidewinder The AIM-9 Sidewinder (where "AIM" stands for "Air Intercept Missile") is a short-range air-to-air missile which entered service with the US Navy in 1956 and subsequently was adopted by the US Air Force in 1964. Since then the Sidewinder has prov ...

AIM-54 Phoenix The AIM-54 Phoenix is an American radar-guided, long-range air-to-air missile (AAM), carried in clusters of up to six missiles on the Grumman F-14 Tomcat, its only operational launch platform. The Phoenix was the United States' only long-range ...

AIM-120 AMRAAM The AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile, or AMRAAM (pronounced ), is an American beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile (BVRAAM) capable of all-weather day-and-night operations. It is 7 inches (18 cm) in diameter, and employs ...

Akash missile Akash (IAST: Ākāśa, ) is a medium-range mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) system developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and produced by Bharat Dynamics Limited (BDL). Surveillance and Fire control radar, ta ...

CITEFA AS-25K The AS-25K is an Argentine air-to-surface missile (ASM) under development by the CITEFA (''Instituto de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas de las FFAA'' - Armed Forces Scientific and Technical Research Institute) in two versions: air-to-sea ...

Astra missile Astra (Sanskrit: "weapon") is an Indian family of all weather beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation. The missile is capable of engaging targets at varying ranges from a distance ...

* Brimstone *

Brahmos Supersonic Land Attack Missile The BrahMos (also designated as PJ-10)EXACTO EXACTO, an acronym of "Extreme Accuracy Tasked Ordnance", is a sniper rifle firing smart bullets being developed for DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) by Lockheed Martin and Teledyne Scientific & Imaging in November 2008. The ...

* AM39 Exocet *

FGM-148 Javelin The FGM-148 Javelin, or Advanced Anti-Tank Weapon System-Medium (AAWS-M), is an American-made portable anti-tank missile system in service since 1996, and continuously upgraded. It replaced the M47 Dragon anti-tank missile in US service. Its fire- ...

FIM-92 Stinger The FIM-92 Stinger is an American man-portable air-defense system (MANPADS) that operates as an infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM). It can be adapted to fire from a wide variety of ground vehicles, and from helicopters as the Air-to- ...

Firestreak The de Havilland Firestreak is a British first-generation, passive infrared homing (heat seeking) air-to-air missile. It was developed by de Havilland Propellers (later Hawker Siddeley) in the early 1950s, entering service in 1957. It was the fir ...

(1959–1988; British tail-chase infrared AAM fitted to Sea Vixen, Javelin, Lightning.) *

Hermes (missile) Hermes (russian: Гермес) is a family of modularly designed guided missiles developed in Russia by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau. The Hermes missile can be used from air, ground or naval launchers. Development Development of the Hermes ...

Sosna-R The 9M337 Sosna-R (Pine) (SA-X-25) is a Russian radar and laser-guided supersonic ( Mach 2.6) two-stage missile. It is used in Sosna-R short range air defense missile system designed to protect military units from air attacks in all types of ...

* HJ-9A *

IRIS-T The IRIS-T ("thermography, InfraRed Imaging System Tail/thrust vectoring, Thrust Vector-Controlled") is a medium range infrared homing missile available in both air-to-air missile, air-to-air and ground defence surface-to-air missile, surface- ...

* Kh-25 (Soviet Union) * Kh-29D *

Kh-35 The Zvezda Kh-35 (russian: Х-35 , AS-20 'Kayak') is a Soviet turbojet subsonic cruise anti-ship missile. The missile can be launched from helicopters, surface ships and coastal defence batteries with the help of a rocket booster, in which c ...

Kh-59 The Kh-59 ''Ovod'' (russian: Х-59 Овод ' Gadfly'; AS-13 'Kingbolt') is a Russian TV-guided cruise missile with a two-stage solid-fuel propulsion system and 200 km range. The Kh-59M ''Ovod-M'' (AS-18 'Kazoo') is a variant with a bigger war ...

LFK NG LFK NG from ''Lenkflugkörper Neue Generation'' ("New Generation Guided Missile") is under development by MBDA Germany and Diehl Defence as the new short-range surface-to-air missile system for the German Army as a replacement for its Roland ai ...

MICA Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

* Nag *

PARS 3 LR The PARS 3 LR in German service, also known as TRIGAT-LR (Third Generation AntiTank, Long Range) and AC 3G in French, is a fire-and-forget missile, which can be used against air or ground targets. It is intended for long range applications and d ...

PL-12 The PL-12 (, NATO reporting name: CH-AA-7) is an active radar-guided beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile developed by the People's Republic of China. It is considered comparable to the US AIM-120 AMRAAM and the Russian R-77. History Develo ...

RBS 15 The RBS 15 (Robotsystem 15) is a long-range fire-and-forget surface-to-surface and air-to-surface anti-ship missile. The later version Mk. III has the ability to attack land targets as well. The missile was developed by the Swedish company Saab ...

Red Dean Red Dean, a rainbow code name, was a large air-to-air missile developed for the Royal Air Force during the 1950s. Originally planned to use an active radar seeker to offer all-aspect performance and true fire-and-forget engagements, the valve- ...

(1950s British active-radar AAM. Early trial firings only; cancelled before service entry.) * Red Top (1964–1988; British all-aspect infrared-homing missile fitted to Sea Vixen and Lightning.) * Roketsan

UMTAS UMTAS or Mizrak-U ''(Uzun Menzilli Tanksavar Sistemi)'' is a modern long range air-to-surface anti-tank guided missile developed by Turkish armor and missile manufacturer Roketsan. Background The UMTAS program was begun in late 2003 by Turkey's ...

* RIM-66 Standard SM2, blocks IIIB and IVA only *

RIM-174 Standard ERAM The RIM-174 Standard Extended Range Active Missile (ERAM), or Standard Missile 6 (SM-6), is a missile in current production for the United States Navy. It was designed for extended-range anti-air warfare (ER-AAW) purposes, providing capability ...

Spike (missile) Spike (Hebrew: ספייק) is an Israeli fire-and-forget anti-tank guided missile and anti-personnel missile with a tandem-charge high-explosive anti-tank (HEAT) warhead. , it is in its fourth generation. It was developed and designed by the Isr ...

* SRAW Predator Antitank Missile *

Type 01 LMAT The is a Japanese man-portable fire-and-forget anti-tank missile. Development began in 1993 at Kawasaki Heavy Industries and was accepted into service in 2001. During development, the missile was designated with the codename XATM-5. Later it was ...

* TUBITAK-SAGE

SOM (missile) The SOM ( tr, ) is a next-generation autonomous, stealth, high precision cruise missile developed by TÜBİTAK SAGE, Defence Research and Development Institute of Turkey. It was first revealed during the 100th anniversary celebrations of the Tu ...

(Turkey) *

Vympel R-27 The Vympel R-27 (NATO reporting name AA-10 Alamo) is a family of air-to-air missile developed by the Soviet Union. It remains in service with the Russian Air Force, air forces of the Commonwealth of Independent States and air forces of many o ...

Vympel R-73 The R-73 (NATO reporting name AA-11 ''Archer'') is a short-range air-to-air missile developed by Vympel NPO that entered service in 1984. Development The R-73 was developed to replace the earlier R-60 (AA-8 'Aphid') weapon for short-range use b ...

Vympel R-77 The Vympel NPO R-77 missile ( NATO reporting name: AA-12 Adder) is a Russian active radar homing beyond-visual-range air-to-air missile. It is also known by its export designation RVV-AE. It is the Russian counterpart to the American AIM-120 ...

FN-6 FN-6 or Feinu-6 () is a third-generation passive infrared homing (IR) man portable air defence system (MANPADS). Development from HN-5 missile, FN-6 missile is an export-oriented product and China's most advanced surface-to-air missile offered o ...

Kornet-EM The 9M133M Kornet-M (also known by the export designation 9M133 Kornet-EM) Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) is an improved version of the 9M133 Kornet ATGM, with increased range and an improved warhead. Kornet-EM missiles are chiefly used ...

9M123 Khrizantema The 9M123 Khrizantema (russian: "Хризантема"; en, Chrysanthemum, NATO reporting name AT-15 Springer) is a Russian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM). Khrizantema was designed to deal with current and future generations of main battle tank ...

9K333 Verba The 9K333 ''Verba'' (russian: Верба, "Willow") is a Russian fourth-generation man-portable infrared homing surface-to-air missile (SAM) MANPADS. "9K333" is the Russian GRAU designation of the system. Its NATO reporting name is SA-25. History ...

P-800 Oniks The P-800 Oniks (russian: П-800 Оникс; en, Onyx), also known in export markets as Yakhont (russian: Яхонт; en, ruby), is a Soviet / Russian supersonic anti-ship cruise missile developed by NPO Mashinostroyeniya as a ramjet version ...

* 3M-54 Kalibr *

Skif (ATGM) The Skif or Stuhna-P (Ukrainian: Стугна-П) is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) system developed in the early 2010s by the Luch Design Bureau. The initial guidance device ПН-С of the Skif was developed and manufactured by Bela ...

* Shershen *

HJ-12 The Hongjian-12 () is a third generation, man-portable, fire-and-forget infrared homing anti-tank missile of China. It was unveiled at the Eurosatory 2014 exhibition. History The missile was first showcased on the Eurosatory 2014 exhibition. S ...

* Nag/Prospina *

Raybolt The AT-1K Raybolt ( ko, 현궁 "Hyeon-gung", Hanja: 晛弓) is a South Korean man-portable third-generation anti-tank guided missile built by LIG Nex1. It has fire-and-forget capability using an infrared imaging seeker and has a tandem-warhead to ...

References

{{Reflist Missile guidance Weapon guidance

Examples

See also

References