ORIGINAL: Fishbed
Sounds reasonable to me that later western ARMs could have such a firing mode, but still by any operational aspects it seems more like a big waste of resources that would be seldom used. Would you take the risk of shooting an ARM without a lock on an emission source, and with no assurance that said source will activate before it gets out of the missile's targeting envelope, either by flying by or running out of fuel? [:)]
The only reason ALARM may have such a mode is because it has this clever parachute deployment option, that actually makes such an approach worthy: with the certainty that the missile will stay on station much longer, such an technique is arguably way more sound.
But then again, AS-4? Come on! The Martel was a western 80s something missile system, and still you had to know the radio band of the target you were striking before taking off, as you had to set-up the targeting specter on the ground. In that view, I'd venture that a bearing only, multiple band attack mode is a thing of late XXth century ARM, out of reach for poor mid-60s' Kh-22 ARM. And even then, remember that a HARM eats through its fuel reserves in 3 min, shooting through the sky at Mach 2. The enemy radar operator'd better be VERY cooperative. You just don't blind-shoot a specialized weapon asset with less than a 3 min targeting window, especially if the whole package relies on your SEAD efficiency.
All depends on your objective. If you're trying to clear the way for a critical strike. A 3 minutes window can mean life or death for some of the aircrew. Also, now we actually have to live with limited stores (unlike Harpoon). So if the weapon is at least capable according to spec. then the ability should be in game. It's up to the player to decide if it's worth the use.
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