Fire and forget

An F-22 fires an AIM-120

Fire-and-Forget ( English for “self-seeking”, literally “firing and forgetting”) describes in military jargon the ability of guided missiles to control targets without further support from the fire platform, the shooter or other external aids. From the moment they are fired, such weapons steer towards the target completely independently, for example through infrared guidance or active target search guidance with their own radar .

Well-known fire-and-forget missiles are:

Kornet EM
FIM-92 stinger
AIM-9 Sidewinder
AIM-120 AMRAAM
FGM-148 Javelin
RIM-116 RAM
FGM-172 SRAW
AGM-114 Hellfire (only version "L")
some models of the AGM-65 Maverick
the French Exocet missile (an anti-ship missile )
PARS 3 LR (anti-tank missile)

Other missiles must not be “forgotten” after they have been launched or dropped, as they have to be guided to the target with a radar or laser beam or optically ( SACLOS ). This restricts the maneuverability of the launch platform and also endangers the shooter or the launch unit through a direct line of sight to the missile or target, but increases the immunity to interference (e.g. against ECM , decoys , fog, smoke or dust) of the weapon. In some situations (for example, when the infrared emission of a tank and its surroundings are almost the same) it is possible that a fire-and-forget weapon cannot be used. Here wire-guided weapons show advantages. There are also weapons that can be controlled separately or together with both fire modes.

Inferred usage

Fire-and-Forget also appears derived from this in other subject areas as (both uplifting and downgrading) jargon and technical language designation.

In the organization , the term is used on the one hand for topics that are not processed further by the creator or person responsible after opening and therefore often do not achieve the goal or on the other hand do not have to be pursued further after the assignment because the complete and correct handling by organizational Action is unavoidable.
In computer science , the term characterizes, for example, simple network protocols without acknowledgment of receipt ( UDP ), the sending of spam messages or the creation of objects in object-oriented programming languages without ever using them again.

Individual evidence

↑ Description of the Javelin system as a typical representative of a fire-and-forget system at globalsecurity.org (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Overview of the fire-and-forget systems at globalsecurity.org (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from December 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )
↑ Martin Marcher, Lecture: Fire and Forget Administration vs. Proactive monitoring and alerting (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from November 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

[Nr.1-1] Description of the Javelin system as a typical representative of a fire-and-forget system at globalsecurity.org (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from March 17, 2010 in the Internet Archive )

[Nr.2-2] Overview of the fire-and-forget systems at globalsecurity.org (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from December 14, 2017 in the Internet Archive )

[Nr.3-3] Martin Marcher, Lecture: Fire and Forget Administration vs. Proactive monitoring and alerting (accessed on November 29, 2009) ( Memento from November 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )