*** Posted by TIGER ***
[Hi,
I cannot tell you the real distance when it goes active because it's classified I dont know, sorry, but the AMRAAM (so they say) has a maximum kill range of 31 miles. I would judge it to be that kind of distance so the pilot does'nt have to hang around. You see the AMRAAM is a "Fire & Forget" missle, which means it will take care of itself once it's launched. 1/4 distance it may go active or it may go active as it get's close to the target but the idea of keeping your radar cone pointing at the target gives the enemy an excellent chance also of him firing a missle back at you before trying to evade your missle. I have also kept my radar cone on the target but I would count to 5 or 6 after you have launched and then turn with 90^ with chaff. Although the missle's going pretty fast and will cover the sky in no time it will still take the enemy no time to lock you up as well. Dont be fooled by the "Fire & Forget" slogan, active guided missles like this have been know to be spoofed by chaff and have also been know to loose their target's while trying to track them.

Regards

Rapier

I have been waiting because I was unclear as to when the seeker head went active and wanted to ensure a good kill on the bandit. Is it a set distance from the target, like say 10nm or is it truely 1/4 the distance from the time it leaves the rail??

]
Hi Faulken
The AIM-120 AMRAAM becomes active at about 1/2 distance from the plane and it's target.
Let's say you are about 10 miles from the target and you launch an 120.
The 120 will be active first fraction of a second. At about 50 miles from the target the 120 will be active in aprox 1 minute.
Tiger