system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Physics problem that has been plaguing me since high school.

Hypothetical situation. Lets say you have a fighter airplane that flies at a maximum velocity of (just throwing numbers out there) 100 m/s.  This plane can fire missiles, which travel at 200m/s.  If the plane is flying at 100m/s and fires the missiles, the missiles would travel faster than 200m/s, right? 

Ok. So what happens if the same missiles are equipped on a jet fighter that can travel 500m/s.  If the jet fighter is flying at 500m/s and fires a missile, will the missile now be able to travel faster than 500m/s or would it trail behind the jet fighter, kind of like when you throw a ball out the window of a moving car (I know its an entirely different phenomenon). I don't know how air resistance would play into this, assuming there is or isn't any.  Also, assume the missile is loaded under the wing of the aircraft (not in some tube that could jam). 

This hypothetical situation has seriously been giving me headaches for about 10 years because I simply can't wrap my mind around it. I'd appreciate some clarification!
gpt
The question at hand is: What causes the speed limit on the motion of the missiles?  Is it air resistance (as is the case for airborne missiles)?  

If so, then firing a missile (limited to 200 m/s velocity in air) from a jet (traveling at 500 m/s in air) will cause the missile to fly backward at 300 m/s from the perspective of the jet pilot.  Imagine throwing a beachball from the window of a rapidly moving car.  The air catches it going "above its speed limit," and drags it back down pretty quickly.  

If all of this is happening in outer-space, where there is no air resistance, whatever speed limit is imposed won't be with respect to the air, so you're the pilot will likely see the missile move forward in the expect fashion.