system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Do (fighter) airplanes really have an onboard system that warns if someone is target locking it, as computer games and movies make us believe? And if so, how does it work?
gpt
The RWR (radar warning receiver) basically can "see" all radar that is being pointed at the aircraft. When the radar "locks" (switches from scan mode to tracking a single target), the RWR can tell and alerts the pilot. This does not work if someone has fired a heat seeking missile at the aircraft, because this missile type is not reliant on radar. However, some modern aircraft have additional sensors that detect the heat from the missile's rocket engine and can notify the pilot if a missile is fired nearby.