Fire for effect (or FFE) is a military term.
According to
NATO
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...
doctrine:
# Fire which is delivered after the mean point of impact or burst is within the desired distance of the target or adjusting/ranging point.
# Term in a call for fire to indicate the adjustment/ranging is satisfactory and fire for effect is desired.
According to
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...
, it is "that volume of fires delivered on a target to achieve the desired effect".
Artillery firing is often calibrated with spotting rounds and a process of adjustment of fire. Once calibrated upon the desired target or bracketed area, a call for "fire for effect" is made – requesting several batteries or the battalion to fire one or more rounds, with the goal of saturating the target area with shell fragments.
In practice, first the
Forward Observer
An artillery observer, artillery spotter or forward observer (FO) is responsible for directing artillery and mortar fire onto a target. It may be a ''forward air controller'' (FAC) for close air support (CAS) and spotter for naval gunfire sup ...
(FO) establishes communication with the
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
unit. Then a spotting round is called for. Spotting rounds are then "walked" on to the target. When the spotting round is either on the target or the necessary adjustment is small enough to be within allowable limits, the FO calls for a fire mission, often with the phrase, "Fire for effect." If the first fire mission does not reduce the position or change the tactical situation sufficiently, other fire missions may be called for.
Ideally the observations of the FO will be accurate enough to dispense with any ranging rounds. This maximizes surprise and also limits the opportunity for the enemy to discover the position of the battery while saving ammunition. When ranging rounds are needed, surprise can be preserved using an "auxiliary adjusting point". This point should be an equal range from the battery as the target point but along a different azimuth. Once the chosen auxiliary point is hit, the range is dialed in and the switch can easily be made to the target point (error is usually greater in the range component). Care must be taken that the auxiliary point is far enough from the target to obscure the real purpose.
See also
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Field artillery
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Field artillery team
In the US system for land-based field artillery, the field artillery team is organized to direct and control indirect artillery fire on the battlefield.
Since World War I, to conduct indirect artillery fire, three distinct components have evolve ...
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Final protective fire
Final protective fire (FPF) refers to a tactical plan for a military unit, set up in support of the infantry, to protect itself against overwhelming attack, and generally reserved for units at risk of being overrun. It involves the concentration ...
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Suppressive fire
In military science, suppressive fire is "fire that degrades the performance of an enemy force below the level needed to fulfill its mission". When used to protect exposed friendly troops advancing on the battlefield, it is commonly called cove ...
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Time on target
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
References
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External links and sources
Fire coordination area
Weapon operation
Military terminology