Friendly fire again

[mark thorpe]

just read another news report about this, and wow.. one of the guys killed was from the same town as me, and one of the others lived in chelmsford, which is about a 20 min drive.. crazy..

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6967809.stm

 

[setishock]

First of all a 500lb bomb is not a presision weapon. It's a free fall weapon. The pilot keys in the coordinates given to him by the person on the ground. The NAV computer tells him what approach to make to the target and when to hack. When the pickle goes hot it's up to the pilot to pull the trigger. But they are not God. Mistakes happen from time to time. The people on the ground may not realize they are too close to the coordinates they give the pilot. A number may have been punched in wrong. The wind between the aircraft and the ground may have changed direction. Blown off course 1 or 2 degrees can make one hell of a difference in where it hits. And you really can't blame pilots for every freaking thing that goes wrong.
Your getting so indignate over deaths of British troops in friendly fire accidents is insulting to me as an American. Our troops have died at the hands of our own and friendly troops as well. As tragic as it is, it is indeed a fact of war. People die. We do all we can to not have these tragic events occure, but they do happen and they will continue to happen.

Sometimes Brookfield, the price of peace is paid in a solders blood, and a mothers tears...

 

[Rudster8161]

First of all a 500lb bomb is not a presision weapon. It's a free fall weapon. The pilot keys in the coordinates given to him by the person on the ground. The NAV computer tells him what approach to make to the target and when to hack. When the pickle goes hot it's up to the pilot to pull the trigger. But they are not God. Mistakes happen from time to time. The people on the ground may not realize they are too close to the coordinates they give the pilot. A number may have been punched in wrong. The wind between the aircraft and the ground may have changed direction. Blown off course 1 or 2 degrees can make one hell of a difference in where it hits. And you really can't blame pilots for every freaking thing that goes wrong.
Your getting so indignate over deaths of British troops in friendly fire accidents is insulting to me as an American. Our troops have died at the hands of our own and friendly troops as well. As tragic as it is, it is indeed a fact of war. People die. We do all we can to not have these tragic events occure, but they do happen and they will continue to happen.

Sometimes Brookfield, the price of peace is paid in a solders blood, and a mothers tears...

the 500lb. JDAM is a precision weapon, its 100% within 8 feet, it can usually hit its target within 1 or 2.

92% of munitions now are precision guided. that bomb was either laser or GPS, no WAY would they have dropped a free fall that close

EDIT:
nevermind 95% accuracy of hitting its EXACT target.

also i own a flight sim for the f-16, hard as hell to hit a target with a freefall weapon from a couple thousand feet

 

[muz]

the 500lb. JDAM is a precision weapon, its 100% within 8 feet, it can usually hit its target within 1 or 2.

92% of munitions now are precision guided. that bomb was either laser or GPS, no WAY would they have dropped a free fall that close

EDIT:
nevermind 95% accuracy of hitting its EXACT target.

also i own a flight sim for the f-16, hard as hell to hit a target with a freefall weapon from a couple thousand feet

Yes but hit by a sudden change in wind direction can cause all sorts of problem .
FLlght sim is no where near as realistic as in life , it cant emulat the pressure the pilots are under
Personaly i just think its a war dont you think the pilots up their are under enough stress as it is without having to worry about where their bomb is gonna hit , once the bomb leaves their plane their job is done they cannot magicaly change the direction of the bomb once its left the plane , its like a cop shoots someone but something happens and his bullet ends up missing and hitting an innocent civilian , he set out with the right intent and something bad happened . the pilot aims his bomb with the correct target but he cannot be soley responsibe for where it lands . Their are bound to be instances like this where people are killed acidently but hey we decided this war was worth all that so i realy hope it is
I am a british person and i dont blame the american pilots for this or the other friendly fire incident , The pilots are following direct orders and iof they make mistakes it is for good reason , they dont just put any old dude in an airplane and send them up they are trained very well so its not fair to say oh well its all their fault , of course if its human error ont their part they are partly responsible but you have to look furthur and think why they made the mistake as there may be another problem that led to this such as miscomunication etc

 

[Rudster8161]

^^all precision guided bombs have fins to guide themselves, its like a sucicide plane with explosives.

its hard even w\o the pressure, but the flight sim is so real its almost exactly what its actually like, other than actually being there.

 

[Celegorm]

Sometimes Brookfield, the price of peace is paid in a solders blood, and a mothers tears...

Well said. Freedom isn't free after all. Big +1 for that.

 

[Spartan109]

u no wut they say...."the only thing more accurate then enemy in coming fire,is friendly incoming fire"