How would you postulate that be done if the missile is the weapons bay? Say a AIM-9M in the F-22's side bay. The IR sensor is essentially shrouded? I know that the F-22 is able to provide targeting data(in caged mode) to the AIM-9M before it launches so the missile knows where to look for the target right after it comes out of the bay.
We should take a closer look at the different modes' description...
AIM-9 Sidewinder
One method of cueing the AIM-9X to the target’s IR energy source is referred to as boresight, whereby the missile is physically pointed toward the target via the pilot maneuvering the aircraft. The IR energy gathered by the missile seeker is converted to electronic signals that enable the missile to acquire and track the target up to its seeker gimbal limits.
This is the standard IR equipped missile operation.
A second method of cueing the AIM-9X to the target’s IR energy is the Sidewinder Expanded Acquisition Mode (SEAM). SEAM slaves the AIM-9X seeker to the aircraft radar. The aircraft avionics system can slave the missile seeker up to a given number of degrees from the missile/aircraft boresight axis. The missile seeker is slaved until an audible signal indicates seeker target acquisition. Upon target acquisition, a seeker interlock in the missile is released (uncaged) and the missile seeker begins tracking the target. The AIM-9X seeker will then continue to track the target.
A 'caged' status mean the sensor is not free to perform its own operations, virtually no difference than if the sensor is physically covered.
When the sensor is uncovered, its slaved/caged status mean even if it is able to detect environmental conditions that it was designed for,
UNTIL (as highlighted) certain other conditions are met, it will remained slaved/caged to a 'master' sensor, if you will. That 'until' mean the sensor must pick up the target in the area as specified by the master sensor before it is allowed to operate freely.
Active sensor is 99% superior to passive sensor in 99% of environmental conditions, and it is 100% superior when target details are necessary. Does not matter if that active sensor is radar or your own skin. That 1% vulnerability is when the target performs some actions that can deceive the sensor. For example: P-leather, or pleather, manufacturing evolved to the point where 99% of the time, it requires a legal label in order for 99% of consumers to know they are looking at man-made leather. P-leather can be seen as 'countermeasure' to your sense of touch and knowledge of what is genuine leather -- from animal hides.
A passive sensor missile is designed for when we do not want the target to know he is being sought out by active methods and as defense produces countermeasures.
For the radar/IR integration system, the process know the IR sensor's physical limits and logical field-of-view (FOV), whether the IR sensor is physically covered or not. The slaved/caged status for the subordinate sensor (passive) is intended to eliminate, as much as possible, environmental conditions that could be distraction(s) once the passive sensor is released from that slaved/caged status. That guidance comes from the master sensor, which in this case is radar. Because the process integration know the FOVs of both sensors, that process integration can basically tell the radar (master) that even though the target is within the master's FOV, the target is still outside of the slave's FOV. Once the target is within the FOVs of both sensors, or despite outside of the slave's FOV but within some statistical bounds of ability to detect the target, the missile is released from the parent aircraft, and the slave sensor can be unslaved/uncaged from that tie.
A third method for cueing the AIM-9X to the target’s IR energy is through use of the JHMCS. This method allows the pilot to cue the AIM-9X seeker to high off-boresight targets via helmet movement.
If the FOV is the boresight, then the JHMCS method is spectacular in the sense that the master/slave integration ignores the slave's FOV limitations.
The pilot's head movement is much greater than his radar's mount. So if you look at this at the theoretical level, you can see different degrees of freedom of sensor movements: the IR missile have the least, the radar have more, and the pilot have the greatest. We have in association: passive, active, and passive.
In the JHMCS process integration, we have passive-passive sensors in the master-slave relationship. The pilot is the superior sensor in that the he can identify the target based upon visuals and he also has much greater degrees of freedom of movements. He commands the missile, with its passive sensor, to fly in the direction he wants, while the missile's IR sensor ignores all possible IR inputs, then once the missile's IR sensor is in the general direction of the target and the target's IR emission is within the sensor's FOV, the missile can be released from the master-slave tie.
You( and a lot of Chinese and Pakistanis) need to learn to debate with a cool head and focus on technicality.
We can only hope...
