History Main / MissileLockOn

* Very common in the ''ColonyWars'' series, and you also have countermeasure beacons when you're the target of enemy missiles, although the reaction time to use them is punishingly low.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto: San Andreas'' has this feature on the handheld Stinger missile, The Apache helicopter and the Jump Jet.
* ''{{Halo 2}}'''s Rocket Launcher, though it only worked on vehicles. Seems to have been [[{{Nerf}} discontinued]] for ''3''.
** And then brought back for air targets in ''Reach'', which also introduced the Plasma Launcher, which does have this for all targets. The Sabre fighter also uses it, but since that took place in space, no idea if it could lock on to land or air targets...

* ''AfterBurner'' has instant lock-on missile (instead of a beep you hear "FIRE!") Move the cursor over an enemy, launch. Repeat.
* ResidentEvil5 has the LRT laser guided system. The launcher itself doesn't actually do anything, however targeting the boss it is used against long enough results in a converging crosshair and a beep when lock on is made. Pulling the trigger result in a space satellite firing a powerful condensed beam into the boss.

* Stinger missiles feature in most of the ''MetalGearSolid'' games and feature the traditional lock-on behavior, with potential targets being marked with a diamond that the crosshairs must be aimed at until it turns red to indicate a lock on.
** For both the first two ''MetalGearSolid'' games, you get the Stinger in order to fight flying bosses or the eponymous HumongousMecha. Of course, you can [[NoKillLikeOverkill use them on regular guards]] if you're feeling so inclined.

** Averted in ''MetalGearSolid 3'' as the game is set in the 1960's and so the only launcher is the dumb-fired RPG-7.
** The Stinger returns in ''MetalGearSolid 4'' as well as the Javelin, although that functions with fly-by-wire manual aiming to differentiate it functionally from the Stinger.

* ''GrandTheftAuto: San Andreas'' has this feature on the handheld Stinger missile, The Apache helicopter and the Jump Jet.
* ''{{Halo}} 2'''s Rocket Launcher, though it only worked on vehicles. Seems to have been [[{{Nerf}} discontinued]] for ''3''.

* ArmoredCore series does this too with their missile weapons. This continues until Armored Core 4 where missile lock is indicated by a visual cue, without the beeping.

[[folder:TruthInTelevision]]

* ArmoredCore series does this too with their missile weapons. This continues until Armored Core 4 where missile lock is only indicated by a visual cue only without the usual audio cue.

* ''Top Gun''

** Being a western-made, Tom Clancy-verse based clone of ''Ace Combat'', ''{{H.A.W.X.}}'' has it too.

[[folder:Videogames]]

* Subverted in HalfLife2 where the missile launchers are "locked" by a laser pointer, with the missile following where it goes. It can also cause hilarious events where you can circle the missile around the enemy.

* The ''WingCommander'' series used this a lot. Heat-seekers could only lock on if you were behind the target, whereas with Image-Recognition missiles you just had to point at the target for long enough. Torpedoes were an interesting case; they were anti-capital ship missiles that took a very long time to lock on, even though capital ships were very slow moving and couldn't dodge. The explanation was that the torpedo had to synchronize with the enemy ship's shields in order to punch through.

TheHero is [[SurpriseVehicle suddenly under attack from an enemy helicopter]]. Undaunted, he pulls out his surface-to-air missile and trains it on the chopper. He struggles to keep the vehicle in shot as the red crosshairs converge to the sound of increasingly rapid beeping. Finally he gets a solid tone, the cross hairs becomes stuck to the target like glue and the weapon flashes "Lock On". He pulls the trigger and then dives to cover, knowing that the homing missile is now locked on and will unerringly find it's target without further help.

** For both the first two ''MetalGearSolid'' games, you get the Stinger in order to fight flying bosses or the eponymous HumongousMecha. Of course, you can [[VideogameCrueltyPotential use them on regular guards]] if you're feeling so inclined.

The hero is under attack from an enemy helicopter. Undaunted, he pulls out his surface-to-air missile and trains it on the chopper. He struggles to keep the vehicle in shot as the red crosshairs converge to the sound of increasingly rapid beeping. Finally he gets a solid tone, the cross hairs becomes stuck to the target like glue and the weapon flashes "Lock On". He pulls the trigger and then dives to cover, knowing that the homing missile is now locked on and will unerringly find it's target without further help.

At the other end, the pilot is alerted by sirens and flashing lights that he is the victim of a missile lock. Only with extreme evasive maneuvers or missile countermeasures can he hope to survive.

This trope is common both in films and video games that involve Fire-and-forget weapon systems. While not every example will include the converging crosshairs or the display screen, the "Beep.... beep.... beep, beep, beep, beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep" lock on tone is almost universal, as is the second or two required for the lock on to be acquired. While representation in media may be [[TruthInTelevision more]] or [[RuleOfCool less]] accurate to real life, most of the associated tropes for both the person aiming and the person being targeted have their basis in real world technology.

[[folder: Anime]]

* We also see ''{Area 88}}'' pilots waiting for the tone before launching missiles.

* For varying types of targeting systems and varying types of missiles, this can be true to varying extents. A rather bad offender of the "Dramatic Lock-On Delay" was the [[TheScrappy AIM-4 Falcon]], an air-to-air missile carrying by US Air Force jets in the 1950's and early 1960's. This missile required the pilot to keep the nose aimed at the target for as long as seven seconds... against ''[[NintendoHard fast maneuvering supersonic fighters]]'', and due to the missile's requiring the tracker head being cooled with a limited supply of liquid nitrogen, if you failed to get the lock on the first attempt, the missile was ''rendered useless''. [[EpicFail Only five air-to-air kills were ever achieved with this weapon during nearly two decades of service, including two years of frontline service in Vietnam.]]