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U.S. Forces Have Yet to Field Systems to Prevent 'Friendly Fire'
Sunday, July 21, 2002
By Stephen J. Hedges
Chicago Tribune

Friendly fire has always been an element of war. Those who study it invariably note that Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson was mortally wounded by his own men at Chancellorsville, Va. For years, officers have accepted the belief that friendly fire would cause 2 percent of casualties in any war. Recent reviews of World War II and Korean War casualty records suggest the correct figure might be as high as 12 percent to 15 percent.

WASHINGTON -- CT
In the night sky over Afghanistan several months ago, an F-16 fighter pilot from the Illinois Air National Guard reported weapons fire below and moments later radioed that he was attacking in self-defense. The 500-pound, laser-guided bomb was deadly accurate, but it didn't hit the enemy. Instead, it landed on the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry, killing four soldiers.

The accident in April near Kandahar may be the most egregious episode of "friendly fire" in a conflict that is experiencing a growing number of such incidents. So far, 10 incidents are under review. Analysts say the accidents are striking not just for their number, but because they resemble the 35 U.S. friendly fire deaths in the Persian Gulf war. Back then, the military vowed to find ways to prevent the fatal accidents.

But 11 years and more than 100 million dollars later, U.S. forces have yet to field systems that will adequately allow ground and air forces to identify each other. In fact, the troops in Afghanistan are equipped with only modest improvements of the systems deployed during the gulf war.

"What they came up with is a series of different things that can be used," said John Pike, a defense analyst who runs GlobalSecurity.org. "But they never came up with a universal system that would always be used, because under most circumstances, you don't need it."

The Afghan accidents included errant bombs and assaults that have killed Americans and allied Afghan fighters and civilians as well.

Just last week a team of U.S. military specialists arrived in Afghanistan to investigate an American aerial assault at the village of Kakarak.
(More: Ledger-Enquirer.com News Source)
2002 © The Chicago Tribune.

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