Message to all A-10 pilots:

[Gangerolf]

Here's a tip on how to tell friend from foe:

Bad guys:



Good guys:



good luck!

[Dinner]

Hard to tell from the high elevations they have them flying at...

[Gangerolf]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2901515.stm

Three wounded UK soldiers have described how they survived an attack by a US A-10 Thunderbolt anti-tank aircraft that killed one of their troop and destroyed two armoured vehicles.

One of the survivors criticised the US pilot for showing "no regard for human life" and accused him of being "a cowboy" who had "gone out on a jolly".

They said the US pilot apparently failed to recognise that their tanks were a British make, with special coalition identification aids and even a large Union flag on another machine in the five-vehicle convoy.

He said: "I got a letter off my dad the day before the attack and it said 'Be careful, come home soon and watch out for those damn Yanks'.

"Looks like he tempted fate a bit there."

[CerberusIV]

According to the figures given on the TV news this evening US forces have killed 5 British service personnel in friendly fire and Iraqi forces have killed 5 British service personnel (in unfriendly fire!).

I expected the US to score higher than that. Maybe the story of the F16 pilot who fired at the Patriot battery that targeted him is making a few trigger happy people think twice.

[SpencerH]

Maybe its the same A10 pilot who shot up the Brit APC's in GW1. Maybe he just doesn't like the Union Jack.

[KrazyHorse]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Hard to tell from the high elevations they have them flying at...

A10s fly at high elevation? I thought they were really down-and-dirty, kill 'em with cannon fire type of airplanes.

[GePap]

Aren't pilots given recognition tests for vehicles? I find it hard, for any height under 10,000 feet, to mistake a Challenger for the T-55's Iraqis would be using in the south, or a Warrior for any type of BMP.

And as frogger said, A-10's don't attack from that high up with thier main gun.

[KrazyHorse]

Don't worry, Brits: it wasn't the A10 pilot's fault. If that isn't clear immediately, the USAF (or whatever branch it was) will hold a rigorous investigation to prove it.

[Az]

I find it hard, for any height under 10,000 feet, to mistake a Challenger for the T-55's

Ahem, double check that one. on 10,000 feet you'll see a couple of spots, at best.

[Asher]

Maybe the brits shouldn't have cheaped out on the GPS transponders, which indictate to attacking airplanes it's a friendly rather than just a normal sight.

IIRC, AH-64Ds and A-10s are both equipped with the technology to classify targets as friend/foe based on radar data and the presense of a friendly transponder...

[KrazyHorse]

Asher, most vehicles in the US army don't have those, IIRC.

It was a funding issue...

[CerberusIV]

A NATO IFF for AFV's is due to begin testing in 2005.

Just in time for GWIII.

[Lefty Scaevola]

Originally posted by CerberusIV
According to the figures given on the TV news this evening US forces have killed 5 British service personnel in friendly fire and Iraqi forces have killed 5 British service personnel (in unfriendly fire!).

Acidents outdone both, with 15 Brits killed in vehicle/aircraft crashes.

[Asher]

It's telling that we didn't see one of these threads when one British Challenger tank shelled another Challenger tank and killed the crew...

[CerberusIV]

Originally posted by Asher
It's telling that we didn't see one of these threads when one British Challenger tank shelled another Challenger tank and killed the crew...

True, but a firefight in the dark with hostile forces is one thing, strafing a friendly armoured column in daylight is another.