Fox Three indicates a type 3 radar-guided air defense missile IN THE AIR, fired from sea-going vessel?
IF type FOX ONE is radar-guided Air-to-air launch and Type FOX TWO is radar-guided ground-to-air launch, it would make sense that FOX THREE is ship-to-air.
Correspondingly, would a FOX FOUR launch be space-to-air?
More chaff.
As a ship guy back in the 90s I always understood Fox 1 to be a passive missile (sidewinder IR heat seeking for example); Fox 2 to be semi active (sparrows - aircraft radar bouncing back to missile) and Fox 3 to be active (active missile radar guiding the missile in). All these were air to air.
So someone was shooting an active air to air shoot and forget missile in the message you posted. Maybe at another missile.
The Fox M1 on a more recent post would to me be a possible add for surface launches. Can’t be sure though as it wasn’t not something I heard while I was in
The only context in which I’ve heard the term “Fox” for a missile is in the cockpit of a fighter jet.
Fox Three means an active radar missile, used air-to-air usually, air-to-ground in special cases. “Active” means it has its own radar transmitter to illuminate the target, rather than relying on the aircraft radar to paint the target until intercept. A common term is “fire and forget”, meaning the aircraft can release the missile and then evade while not emitting any RF.
The AIM-120C AMRAAM is the active radar missile we use. Advanced Medium Range Air-Air Missile. It’s the slimmed down technological descendant of the massive AIM-54 Phoenix missile the Navy used on F-14 Tomcats.
The AMRAAM can be ground-launched at an airborne target, but I don’t believe the Fox callout would be typical in that case. I believe it’s for pilots only.
Indicates launch of an infrared-guided missile (such as the AIM-9 Sidewinder).[1]
Fox three
Indicates launch of an active radar-guided missile (such as the AIM-120 AMRAAM and AIM-54 Phoenix).[1]
Fox four
Historical term indicating air-to-air or air-to-surface cannon fire. The term in current usage is Guns, Guns, Guns.