Deeps said:
The reason the yanks have a lot more ''Blue on blue''incidents is because
they fly many many more sorties than anybody else . You just get to hear
about our ''Blue on blue ''incidents . I was involved in a few on Telic 1.
The spams always get the bad press , they are fantastic pilots and
will the first there if the brown stuff hits the fan . I should know , i'm
a CR FAC on telic right now.
If you're a FAC, then you might be able to answer a question thats been on my mind for some time: Is there direct comms between the ground and air element?
I was in Marine Corps aviation, and close support of ground troops was our entire reason for existence. When our pilots were called in, they generaly were guided to target by a FAC, either airborne in an OV-10 Bronco, or on the ground with the grunts. We had a superb record, I might add. We never laid eggs in our own nest.
As was pointed out: We now fight in the electronic age, and I wonder if all this gadgetry thats supposed to make misidentification "impossible :roll: "
might actualy be stopping up the works. If the support request has to go through several relays, and back through the command net to the ready squadrons, the situation on the ground (which would be quite fluid), would have changed by the time the aircraft are rolling in hot.
At the end of the day, the poor S.O.B with the stick in his hand is going to carry the can, for he/she is the one who pulled the trigger. But general miscommunication has played a big part in these incidents, going back to WWII.