Friendly targets

Two combat aircraft, a Royal Air Force Tornado, and a US Navy F-18, have been brought down by US Patriot missile batteries. At least five British soldiers have been killed by friendly fire. There have been numerous other instances of US friendly fire casualties. It is not clear at this stage whether the strike on the Russian diplomats leading to casualties on the western outskirts of Baghdad was a mistaken one by US forces or as a result of an attack by Iraqis.

The proverbial 8220;fog of war8221; makes the most contribution to friendly fire incidents. But the type of fog this war would generate should not have led to the type of incidents that have already taken place.

For example, it was clear from the very beginning that Iraq had no air forces that could get airborne against the powerful air forces deployed by the Anglo-American forces. As it is, almost automatic radar identification of friend and foe has been routine since the Second World War with the radars picking up signals from the aircraft to make that identification.

The absence of any enemy air force also removes the tension on the missile and air defence crews which is inevitable in the case of a fast approaching jet fighter toward the missile batteries.

The overall air defence organisation also keeps the movement of aircraft under observation and should have warned the Patriot missile batteries of the returning aircraft. And the US has some of the most sophisticated surveillance and communications system in the world, which had led to the evolution of the term RMA Revolution in Military Affairs based on information management. But the friendly fire cases indicate that technology by itself cannot resolve all challenges in war.

In fact, technology may have contributed to the high casualty rate in the friendly fire incidents in this war. Once a target has been 8220;acquired8221; that is, brought into the focus of the launch platform before weapon launch, the inherent accuracies now embedded in the weapon would make sure that the target would be hit with the weapon being launched, unlike earlier wars when the weapon was likely to miss the target because of inherent inaccuracies of the weapon and its aiming system.

And the lethality of the modern weapon system, as the missile attack on the American-Kurdish force indicates, ensures that the weapon would not only hit the target, but that it would also lead to maximum damage. Friendly fire inevitably has a strong negative impact on the morale of the fighting forces since it is seen as the bungling of someone else from the force itself.

But most professional military forces do not allow this to adversely affect the performance of the troops in battle. There is also the question of identifying responsibility and accountability/culpability for the friendly fire. It may be recalled that disciplinary action had been taken in the case of USAF F-15 fighters shooting down their own helicopter over Turkey a couple of years ago while on the mission to hit targets in the northern 8220;no fly zone8221; of Iraq. However, although the events leading to the friendly fire incidents would be promptly investigated to try and find ways and means of avoiding similar incidents in future, it is extremely unlikely that any disciplinary action would be taken with regard to cases during the war.

Air Commodore retired Jasjit Singh, editorial consultant to The Indian Express, will analyse the war daily. Readers can send their queries to him at jasjitsinghexpressindia.com