Why Do Fighter Jets Shoot Flares? (And Are They Effective Against Missiles?)

Over the past century-plus, humanity's ability to traverse the skies has evolved exponentially. As simple passenger and cargo aircraft have become more complicated and remarkable, so have military units. The world has seen some incredibly powerful military transport craft take flight, in addition to a host of military jets. Seemingly, with each new model, these aircraft have become faster, more durable, and capable of carrying all kinds of equipment — intended for defensive and offensive scenarios alike. Among these elements, including the numerous missiles modern United States Air Force fighter jets can carry, are flares. 

Sometimes, even the best military pilots end up in a bad spot and need to occupy the enemy, allowing them to regroup or retreat entirely. This is where flares come into play, serving as an effective countermeasure against various threats. When faced with incoming missiles, be they from a grounded canon or another jet, flares can be deployed against them. They give off heat signatures to "distract" heat-seeking missiles, sending them away from the jet itself. Alternatively, against human enemy pilots, flares can serve as a momentary distraction, though this isn't their primary use case.

All in all, flares are an essential military technology that have saved countless lives throughout the years. However, as time has gone on and weaponry has advanced, projectiles have come along that know better than to fall for flares.

In many cases, flares do just fine against anti-air and air-to-air missiles. They give off a higher heat signature than the jets that fire them, leading these missiles to follow them away from the jet and the pilots within. To further cover their tracks, pilots are trained to quickly navigate their craft away from the flares and reduce their engines' power so the jet's overall heat signature drops. 

Unfortunately, not all missiles are so eager to fall for flares. Even the pilots of the best fighter jets in the world need to be vigilant in this case, not relying on their flares for any and every scenario. Radar-guided missiles are guided by radar as opposed to heat signatures; if a pilot tries to disperse flares against them, it'll be for nothing, as they use radar to find their targets. The prevalence of radar-guided missiles has led jets to adopt a countermeasure known as chaff: small slivers of aluminum or zinc that appear on the missile's radar as separate targets. These little pieces of metal confuse the missiles, giving the pilot a chance to escape the situation.

It's unfortunate that flares aren't capable of preventing some weaponry from causing damage. Still, that's not to say that they aren't immensely helpful in numerous situations, which is why the United States Air Force takes their presence on jets so seriously.

Even as missile technology has evolved to work around the deployment of flares, they're still highly effective when non-infrared missiles are used against them, so the United States Air Force makes it a point to include flares on necessary aircraft to this day. "Part of our mission is to keep the C-5 and C-17 aircraft replenished with good flares. That way when they fly into combat, they have something to defend themselves with," explained Staff Sergeant John Judy, a 436th Maintenance Squadron munitions inspector, during a conversation with the Air Force's official website.

Expanding on the importance of flares in the Air Force's arsenal, Staff Sergeant Matthew Calvo, a 736th AMXS communication, countermeasure, and navigation system craftsman, noted that their presence is something of a morale boost for those on the ground. They take a lot of pride in being able to play an active role in keeping their fellow servicemen safe. He said, "It definitely feels good when you work with flares because you know the aircraft, aircrew and everything onboard is safe. We are helping these aircraft be safer when they are down range performing the mission and that's something we take a lot of pride in."

No matter how you look at it, flares are crucial to protecting pilots and keeping fighter jets intact. They may not be the right countermeasure for every weapon, but in a great many cases, they're the difference between life and death.