What does the phrase to scramble a jet meen?

Question

What does the phrase to scramble a jet meen?

Answer 1

When I was in the USAF  (Control Tower) I was on a ADC Base (air defense)

and when the scramble alarm went off they were in the air in under 5 minutes

Answer 2

It's an EMERGENCY gathering and take off of AIR FORCE jets to defend something. Basically a "To you battle station" call for pilots.

Answer 3

When someone refers to scrambling a jet, it means that the jet pilot needs to be suited up and flying in under 1 hour. It usually takes a request from the white house or the pentagon to get jet's "scrambled", but any high-ranking military official can make the call to scramble fighters for a situation.

Answer 4

Just an idea to think about:

The word scramble in its truest since means to randomize or disorganize.  The military hardly wants to be disorganized when engaging a group of Tu-95 Bears (and their escorts) approaching Alaska.

Now, and for a long time, scrambling aircraft means get them into the air as quickly and as possible and into formation to defend, interdict, intercept, etc.

In the beginning, scrambling aircraft perhaps meant to get them off of the ground as quickly as possible to keep them from being destroyed regardless of formation (since they are useless and sitting ducks on the ground) in the case of an attack.  Of course, on December 7, 1941, the scramble order did not come quick enough.

Answer 5

i think each service may have a different meaning for scramble.  I, being in the Navy, don't use the word like the air force and the air force would probably say we don't have privy to the word.  But we do our scrambling aboard aircraft carriers to avoid threats from foreign spy planes and other aircraft that would do us harm.

Answer 6

Get them up in the air.

Answer 7

scramble was and probably still is a codeword used for "launching the alert aircraft" scramble was used to issue the immediate startup procedures for the highest alert crews, which were to intercept incoming GErman bombers.

Today it is used in variety of tasks for both fighters and interdiction planes, which all include ground alert.

Answer 8

It means to get the plane into the air in the minimum amount of time.

On high alerts, the crews are usually very close to the aircraft and the planes are parked on hard stands within a few feet of the runway.  Some can be airborne in under two minutes.

Answer 9

When I flew in the USAF, we would scramble for alerts, which were simulated wartime maneuvers. Since we were already in flight suits, we could get the aircraft in the air a lot faster than one hour. I'm sure the Navy has similar exercises, and I think the word scramble is appropriate for all aviation branches, including the Marines and Army. At least, I don't think anyone in the Air Force has exclusive rights to it...

lar - thanks for your service.

ADDED:  If I could add a few extra cents worth, I think scramble does not so much refer to the formation takeoff of several aircraft in a hurry - that's sort of aesthetically pleasing, in a scary kind of way. I think it is a better description of the picture created by several flight crews reacting to a siren when they were playing cards, studying for an exam, or eating breakfast and suddenly had to run through the rain, jump in their aircraft, start the engines, call the tower, clear the taxiway, check the instruments and the flight controls, etc etc all within the shortest time possible.

Answer 10

To "scramble" combat aircraft means to get them started, the crews aboard, and in the air as fast as possible.

In critical locations and situations, the military commanders keep airplanes ready with ground crews on standby and flight crews ready to get in the air as quickly as possible in the event of an emerging threat.