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The air-to-ground ARM missiles were designed to remember where radar stations were with some precision so when they saw the missile coming and shut down, the mi

The air-to-ground ARM missiles were designed to remember where radar stations were with some precision so when they saw the missile coming and shut down, the missile could still hit them. The concept doesn't apply with an airplane that can shut down its radar and maneuver. If you design an ARM that also has a backup sensor (IR or radar) to follow the maneuvering aircraft, why not just make that the primary sensor? At which point you've got a standard air-to-air missile, except with some superfluous stuff on it?

JshWright 6y ago
If you're targeting AWACS, even getting them to shut down is going to be pretty disruptive for your opponent.
- justin66 6y ago
  Right, but that was a hypothetical. They're not going to shut down, and you're not going to take your shot at them using a passive-sensor anti-radiation missile. You'll use a passive-sensor infrared or an actively guided radar missile. (And an AWACS plane isn't without other countermeasures.)
  - aerostable_slug 6y ago
    FWIW, ASALM had a passive ARM guidance mode, switching to active radar homing in the endgame.
ckozlowski 6y ago
The benefit to having "home on jam" in this case is that it's passive, (no warning to the target aircraft) and generally has a larger detection range than IR. AMRAAM has this capability now, which would allow for, in theory, long-range shots without the launching aircraft even having to illuminate. The AMRAAM's radar is short range, so you can use a combination of "home on jam" to guide to a range where the jamming is no longer effective, then go active and potentially make the kill. This is a simplistic example of course; EW being a very complicated subject. But overall, having multiple sensors that you can either correlate or fall back on is the trend in smart weapons right now, and we'll be seeing more of those sorts of combinations.
- LorenPechtel 6y ago
  Home on jam also has the benefit that it works when the enemy can jam your radar. You have an incoming enemy raid with heavy jammer support, you lob some missiles at it set for home on jam and their jammers are now calling them in.

JshWright 6y ago

If you're targeting AWACS, even getting them to shut down is going to be pretty disruptive for your opponent.

justin66 6y ago
Right, but that was a hypothetical. They're not going to shut down, and you're not going to take your shot at them using a passive-sensor anti-radiation missile. You'll use a passive-sensor infrared or an actively guided radar missile. (And an AWACS plane isn't without other countermeasures.)
- aerostable_slug 6y ago
  FWIW, ASALM had a passive ARM guidance mode, switching to active radar homing in the endgame.

ckozlowski 6y ago

The benefit to having "home on jam" in this case is that it's passive, (no warning to the target aircraft) and generally has a larger detection range than IR. AMRAAM has this capability now, which would allow for, in theory, long-range shots without the launching aircraft even having to illuminate. The AMRAAM's radar is short range, so you can use a combination of "home on jam" to guide to a range where the jamming is no longer effective, then go active and potentially make the kill. This is a simplistic example of course; EW being a very complicated subject. But overall, having multiple sensors that you can either correlate or fall back on is the trend in smart weapons right now, and we'll be seeing more of those sorts of combinations.

LorenPechtel 6y ago
Home on jam also has the benefit that it works when the enemy can jam your radar. You have an incoming enemy raid with heavy jammer support, you lob some missiles at it set for home on jam and their jammers are now calling them in.