Fratricide continues to plaque the battlefield.Friendly-fire casualties always have been an unavoidable part of war, and despite years of effort and many millions of dollars for research and development, they continue to occur. During the first Persian Gulf War Persian Gulf War or Gulf War (1990–91) International conflict triggered by Iraq's invasion of Kuwait in August 1990. Though justified by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein on grounds that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq, the invasion was presumed to be , friendly fire incidents caused about 17 percent of U.S. casualties. Following that experience, the Defense Department launched several programs to address combat identification. Technology demonstrations began in 1996, and several systems are at various stages of development. The blue force tracking system, for example, has been installed in more than 1,200 combat vehicles, combat posts and helicopters for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. The BFT (Binary File Transfer) An extension to the fax protocol that allows transmission of raw data. A page of text is transmitted faster than a bitmap of the page and is displayed at normal printer resolution at the receiving side. system consists of a computer, satellite antenna and Global Positioning System Global Positioning System: see navigation satellite. Global Positioning System (GPS) Precise satellite-based navigation and location system originally developed for U.S. military use. receiver. Blue force tracking is useful to battlefield commanders, but it does not prevent fratricide frat·ri·cide n. 1. The killing of one's brother or sister. 2. One who has killed one's brother or sister. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin , Marine Lt. Gen. James T. Conway For other persons named James Conway, see James Conway (disambiguation). James Terry Conway (born December 26, 1947) is a General in the United States Marine Corps. On November 13, 2006, General Conway became the 34th Commandant of the Marine Corps. , then-commander of the First Marine Expeditionary Force The largest Marine air-ground task force (MAGTF) and the Marine Corps principal warfighting organization, particularly for larger crises or contingencies. It is task-organized around a permanent command element and normally contains one or more Marine divisions, Marine aircraft wings, and , told Pentagon reporters. "Blue force tracker tells you where units are in general design," he said. "It does not solve the problem of blue on blue fratricide." The battlefield target identification system provides that capability, but it is expensive. Individual units cost between $15,000 and $25,000 apiece. "We're looking at ways to get that down," said Army Lt. Col. Bill McKean, operational manager of the coalition combat identification advanced concept technology demonstration. The exercise is run by the Joint Forces Command. Meanwhile, the plague of fratricide continues. In June, an Air National Guard F-16 fighter pilot was found guilty of dereliction of duty Dereliction of duty is a specific offense in military law. It includes various elements centered around the avoidance of any duty which may be properly expected. In the U.S. for his role in a 2002 bombing incident, which unintentionally killed four Canadian soldiers. In May, U.S. Central Command officials announced that it was probably friendly fire that killed Army Cpl. Pat Tillman in Afghanistan. In March, the Air Force element of the Central Command found that communications problems and unforeseen changes in battle plans contributed to the deaths of 18 Marines in 2003, when an A-10 Warthog fighter mistakenly opened fire on their position in Iraq. In 2003, two British soldiers died when their Challenger II tank was targeted mistakenly by another Challenger crew. |
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