Originally Posted by
JSF-TC
Surprised that while the press release stated 'launch', no-one here has considered the possibility what really happened was a 'jettison', where the missile was ejected in an un-powered, and un-targetted 'dead' state.
There have been many cases of unplanned, inadvertent jettisons, either through finger trouble or an aircraft fault. A lot less steps involved in a jettison compared to an actual launch.
Thats because Air to Air missiles and the way they are mounted on the missile rails, precludes jettison. As far as I know there are no aircraft that can jettison Air to Air missiles. For the missile to leave the rail it has to either move forward and clear the entire rail, or to slide aft. It does not just fall off like a bomb does when the hooks release the logs. Only way to get rid of a missile is to fire it. The Amraam will normally not respond to launch command (pickle) if the system does not have a target (FCR lock). That can however be overridden by a command to launch it as a Maddog. Sidewinders and the like will launch instantly when the pickle switch is depressed. They don't care if there is a target or not. They just go "whoosh".....
Regarding jettison of Air to Ground munitions, it takes as many steps (switch actions) to jettison them as it does to drop dem on a target. Only way to drop them in one switch action is to press the Emergency Jettison switch. This switch is normally guarded by some sort of breakable plastic or a flip away cover that prevent accidental activation. And should you use the Emergency Jettison switch, you will not only loose one bomb, but you will jettison all the stores that can be jettisoned including bombs and fuel tanks.
Regarding tactics close to the border, I am pretty sure that both the Spanish and French detachment in the baltic area, have very restrictive SOP's on what they can practice in that area, including which mode of operation they are allowed to use on their radars and EW systems. Most of the time they are probably only practicing close control intercepts to train the local GCI controllers.
orca beat me to it... orca, how did the jettison of the wing mounted missile work on the type you describe? Was it by jettison of the entire rack maybe?