searching fire
Definition
- Noun:
- A specific type of artillery fire: "searching fire" is a military term for a method of artillery or gunfire where the point of aim is systematically adjusted in elevation. This creates a pattern of impacts that spreads along a line, typically to cover a target area more thoroughly or to engage targets at varying ranges.
Usage
- "Searching fire" is used as a technical term in military contexts, particularly in artillery, naval gunfire, or automatic weapons doctrine. It describes a fire distribution technique.
Examples
- Noun:
- The battery was ordered to lay down a searching fire across the enemy's suspected approach route.
- Effective use of searching fire can deny the enemy movement along a defile or valley.
Advanced Usage
- The term is often part of a larger fire command or order, specifying the type of fire mission.
- It is contrasted with other fire distribution techniques like "traversing fire" (adjustment in azimuth/horizontal plane) or "fixed fire".
Variants and Related Words
- Traversing fire (n): Fire distributed in width by successive changes in the direction of the gun.
- Fixed fire (n): Fire delivered on a point target without change in gun direction or elevation.
- Search (v): In a general sense, to look carefully. In a military/gunnery sense, it can mean to adjust fire to find the target.
Synonyms
- Creeping fire (context-dependent, can be similar)
- Ladder fire (a similar concept often used in naval contexts)
Related Phrases
- Fire for effect: The main barrage of fire delivered after adjusting onto the target, which may include searching fire as a method.
- Adjust fire: The initial process of correcting aim, which may precede ordering a searching fire pattern.
Noun
-
fire distributed in depth by successive changes in the elevation of the gun
