ELI5. I kinda get how a rocket might track on the heat of a helicopter or jet. But how does the tracked vehicle know that it is being tracked? I assume this is real life and not just movies when a big read INCOMING MISSILE warning shows up.
In: Technology
Most of the time in the movies when you see incoming missile it is because the missile is using radar to acquire the target and guide itself in. This is an active scan technology in that it is actively scanning the area it is able to scan with a detectable technology. Radar and laser can be detected.
Infrared scanning is passive meaning it looks at what it sees and interprets it, in this case in the infrared spectrum. Since it is not actively reaching out the infrared scanning itself is not what is detected in these types of missiles.
But radar of the aircraft can still track them if the radar technology is good enough.
Latest Answers