Final protective fire

Final protective fire is an immediately available barrier of direct and indirect fire designed to provide close protection to friendly positions and installations by impeding enemy movement through a defensive area.

It involves the concentration of weapons fire directly in front of the unit to impede enemy movement.

The supported maneuver commander designates the location of the FPF and it is adjusted into place by the Joint Forward Observer (JFO).

[2] As the "final" in the name implies, it is the last resort in defensive plans, involving artillery integrated with small arms and heavy machine gun fire directed dangerously close to friendly defensive positions that are at risk of being overrun by the enemy.

[3] Final protective fire is also commonly incorporated into a defensive plan that incorporates a final protective line, which is a line that, once the enemy has crossed, prompts the FPF plan to be enacted.

Two gunners from Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1 convoy security teams fire the rest of their rounds following the final protective fire scenario of the Battalion's field exercise at Camp Shelby . (June 27, 2007).