What threat was an F-14?
One point that hasn't been made is that the bogie was identifed as an F-14.
Incredibly capable fighter but in 1988 it wasn't exactly king kong of the air to surface battleground. IIRC it had precisly no stand-off anti ship capability at that stage. I don't believe the Iranians ever used the F-14 in ground attack at all, it was too valuable an asset in its primary role to be risked with dumb bombs.
Also 350knots is no where near what it would be doing in an attack profile irrespective of whether it actually descended or not. I know we have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight but I think the decision process was heavily flawed.
So while I agree that the captain did fire in belief that he was defending his ship, and hence not culpable of anything approaching murder, his threat analysis was very poor and he was wrong with tragic consequences. Also awarding the guy an honour was very wrong.
What was the minimum range the USS Vincennes could engage at? Surely there are optical instruments on a cruiser capable of visually identifying a threat outside of minimum range. Even fighters have to visually acquire a threat before firing, is it different for a ship?
Re comparing this to KAL007, I don't believe they are comparable, the pilot of the Sukhoi Su-15 fighter knew full well it was a Korean airlines 747 before he fired a missile. He actually fired his gun across the nose of the 747 before retreating to safe distance for a missile shot. He never told GC it was a PA 'because they never asked'.
So Jakey if you want a murder trial go chase the Russian pilot not the Yankie captain who at least thought he was firing on a fighter (even if the most it could do was sonic boom him).