F18 possible victim of Patriot

[ORAC]

U.S. Investigates 'Friendly Fire' in Hornet Crash

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. military is investigating the possibility that an American Patriot missile might have shot down a U.S. Navy F/A-18C fighter jet over Iraq, U.S. defense officials said on Thursday........

U.S. forces are still searching for the F/A-18 and the pilot, who officials said ejected in the area near Kerbala.

"We're investigating all possibilities," said one U.S. official when asked about reports that a Patriot anti-aircraft missile may have struck the Navy jet on Wednesday while the Patriot was trying to intercept two Iraqi missiles. The defense officials, who asked not to be identified, cautioned that no conclusions had been reached in the incident, which could become the second "friendly-fire" downing of a Western jet in the 2-week-old war.

[tony draper]

This is a great pity, the Patriot seems to be much more reliable at taking out Iraqi missiles this time around, appears it still needs some work.
Also remember it would have had a F16 on its tally sheet if the driver had not popped off a Harm and took out the battery.

[Steepclimb]

Draper: 'appears it still needs some work'
Now would that be typical British understatement?

Frankly the Patriot seems to be a positive liability. 'Traitor' might be a more apt name. Right now it is easily the most effective Iraqi weapon system, 2 kills so far.

We haven't heard the last of this, hopefully there will be nore 'accidents' like this.

[tony draper]

Sky news has just broadcast that it has been admitted the F18 was indeed brought down by a patriot.
Also another Blue on Blue involving a F15 attack on American forces, with one dead and a unknown number injured.

[sprucemoose]

You have to question why Patriots are engaging fighters at all, even if the PAC-3 radars can't positively ID them. To the best of my knowledge there have been no Iraqi Air Force fighter movements, and surely anything that did get up would be tracked by AWACS and dealt with by coalition fighters?

To shoot down one allied aircraft is unfortunate, but two is just careless, to paraphrase Oscar Wilde.

[Jackonicko]

and three (which it would have been had that F-16 not loosed off a HARM) is downright irresponsible.

[West Coast]

I do believe some institutional changes are in order.

[mutleyfour]

Sounds more like a procedual problem, with maybe a lack of supervision!

[West Coast]

I think the problem speaks more to the mindset rather than a procedure. I found this to be true in my interactions with USAF types. I hold out that you may be correct as that would be an easier fix.

[BlueWolf]

West, I couldn't agree more. As I've said in a related thread, I believe the root of the problem lies not in technology, but in prevailing attitudes.

Slightly different situation, slightly different attitudinall problem; but still, one of attitude, not procedure or technology.

It's a human condition, and that means we can fix it easier.