Farbourne

Farbourne

Rear Admiral
So in Wing Commander Prophecy (or maybe it's Secret Ops, or perhaps both), I recall some of the radio chatter from your wingmen includes hearing calls like "Fox 3!". I've heard this before in war movies, but never looked up what it meant. I just did, and found out that in current times, it is a pilot's way of warning their wingmen that they have just fired an active seeking missile. This helps avoid friendly fire. The number indicates the type of missile fired (1 meaning a semi-active radar guided missile, 2 meaning a heat seeking missile, and 3 meaning a completely autonomous fire-and-forget missile).

To those knowledgeable about this... is this correct in real life?

What do the Prophecy (and Secret Ops) pilots actually say?

Do "Fox 1", "Fox 2", and "Fox 3" mean the same things in the Wing Commander universe? I guess Fox 2 would mean you've fired a Javelin, and Fox 3 would mean you've fired an ImRec or a Friend-or-Foe? What would a Wing Commander pilot say if they fired a Dart Dumbfire? Would they say something different for an ImRec vs a FF (which in Wing Commander might matter, since an ImRec will never chase down a friendly but a FF will lock onto a friendly ship with a damaged communication system... at least in the lore; I never observed this to happen in actual gameplay). Prophecy introduces even more missiles... would there be different radio callouts for a Tracker MIRV or a Swarmer?

Am I overthinking this? (Answer: Yes).
 
That is how it works in real life! And the Prophecy comms are certainly intended to reference that (and ID4, which had recently popularized the jargon)… but they don’t actually have that level of functionality. The comms are triggered when any missile is fired and they always say “fox one”.
 
Does this terminology show up in any other Wing Commander properties... any of the novels or anything? I think you're right in that they included it in Prophecy because ID4 had recently popularized it.
 
IRL the Fox codes have the following meanings:

Fox-1: Beam Riding/semi-active radar-guided missile (AIM-7, AA-10, etc.) These require the firing aircraft to continue illuminating the target with its own radar.
Fox-2: Passive IR homing (AIM-9, AA-11, IRIS-T, etc.) Fire-and-forget missile that homes in on the target's heat signature.
Fox-3: Active Radar Guided Missile. (AIM-120, AA-12, Meteor, etc.) Fire-and-forget radar-guided missiles that use their own internal radars to home on the target, but later models can receive updates from the launching aircraft.
Rifle: Air-to-ground missiles, regardless of seeker type, from unguided rockets to advanced missiles like the Hellfire and JAGM.
Pickle: (not as official but popular), gravity-propelled bombs, whether guided or unguided.
Rounds Out: Cannon firing.

Now, some of the SCI-FI assign new or different Fox codes, but these are the ones used by US pilots. Other nations may have similar codes or use the same ones as the US.
 
For the more visual learners:

1790352876098.png
 
Knight26-77 said:
IRL the Fox codes have the following meanings:

Fox-1: Beam Riding/semi-active radar-guided missile (AIM-7, AA-10, etc.) These require the firing aircraft to continue illuminating the target with its own radar.
Fox-2: Passive IR homing (AIM-9, AA-11, IRIS-T, etc.) Fire-and-forget missile that homes in on the target's heat signature.
Fox-3: Active Radar Guided Missile. (AIM-120, AA-12, Meteor, etc.) Fire-and-forget radar-guided missiles that use their own internal radars to home on the target, but later models can receive updates from the launching aircraft.
Rifle: Air-to-ground missiles, regardless of seeker type, from unguided rockets to advanced missiles like the Hellfire and JAGM.
Pickle: (not as official but popular), gravity-propelled bombs, whether guided or unguided.
Rounds Out: Cannon firing.

Now, some of the SCI-FI assign new or different Fox codes, but these are the ones used by US pilots. Other nations may have similar codes or use the same ones as the US.
Click to expand...
Really cool, thanks!
 
Cool! Thanks. So if the same system was carried forward to the Wing Commander era, then firing a DF or a torpedo would be "Rifle", a Javelin HS would be "Fox-2", an ImRec or a FF would be "Fox-3".

They would probably want to introduce a new code to differentiate between an ImRec and a FF. And maybe one for an area-effect unguided missile as well, like the Coneburst, Starburst, or Mace.
 
Oddly, no. They would likely both be Fox-2 codes since they both use forms of passive homing: Im-Rec's match the target's visual signature to home in on it, similar to a TV-guided Maverick. FF homes in on the target's IFF transmissions. If the FF missile first pinged the target's IFF and then continually pinged it, it would be a Fox-3, since it is actively homing in on the target. Torpedoes, on the other hand, would definitely be Fox-3, as they do appear to use active Sensor homing. The only Fox-1 I can think of is the laser-guided missiles the Wasps in Prophecy carry.
 
Knight26-77 said:
IRL the Fox codes have the following meanings:

Fox-1: Beam Riding/semi-active radar-guided missile (AIM-7, AA-10, etc.) These require the firing aircraft to continue illuminating the target with its own radar.
Fox-2: Passive IR homing (AIM-9, AA-11, IRIS-T, etc.) Fire-and-forget missile that homes in on the target's heat signature.
Fox-3: Active Radar Guided Missile. (AIM-120, AA-12, Meteor, etc.) Fire-and-forget radar-guided missiles that use their own internal radars to home on the target, but later models can receive updates from the launching aircraft.
Rifle: Air-to-ground missiles, regardless of seeker type, from unguided rockets to advanced missiles like the Hellfire and JAGM.
Pickle: (not as official but popular), gravity-propelled bombs, whether guided or unguided.
Rounds Out: Cannon firing.

Now, some of the SCI-FI assign new or different Fox codes, but these are the ones used by US pilots. Other nations may have similar codes or use the same ones as the US.
Click to expand...

Is 'bruiser' still used?
 
-danr- said:
Is 'bruiser' still used?
Click to expand...
Maybe, not one I am that familiar with, I've mostly worked with Air Force Pilots, but I can ask my Naval Aviator buddies.
Did a little checking and it is an active code for firing anti-ship missiles, so Torpedo Launches would likely be called Bruiser.

And a list of modern brevity codes. Be warned there are a lot.

en.wikipedia.org

Multi-service tactical brevity code - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Farbourne said:
Does this terminology show up in any other Wing Commander properties... any of the novels or anything? I think you're right in that they included it in Prophecy because ID4 had recently popularized it.
Click to expand...

We do see it once slightly before ID4! The WC4 novel has Blair call Fox 1 when he fires a torpedo at one point. But I’m sure Independence Day was what got us all the Prophecy comms.
 
Also do Confederation pilots use "splash" for shooting down a fighter or a capital ship? I vaguely recall seeing that term in 1990s fighter simulations.
 
Hah I can just pull 'em out for you:

Secret Missions:
Valgard 1: "The Ralari is splashed, sir."

Secret Missions 2:
Firekka 2 1: "Add Knight splashed $L Kilrathi."
Corsair 2 1: "The Snakeir wasn't much trouble. It's splashed."
 
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