Posted on 04/03/2007 4:27:57 AM PDT by Cornpone
London - British fighter pilots were asked by a military chief to consider flying suicide missions as a last resort to stop terrorists, the defence ministry acknowledged on Tuesday.
Air Vice-Marshal David Walker told crews to consider the scenario at a training conference, Britain's The Sun tabloid newspaper reported.
Walker asked pilots what they would do if they suffered weapons failure as they pursued terrorists attempting to fly an aircraft into a British city, or as they chased ground vehicles carrying militants to a target.
"Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaeda commander?" the newspaper quoted Walker as asking the pilots, in editions published on Tuesday.
Britain's defence ministry said Walker had posed questions about how pilots react to life or death situations, but did not say he would order crews on kamikaze missions.
"These are decisions which, however unlikely and dreadful, service people may have to make and it is one of many reasons why the British people hold them in such high esteem," said a ministry spokesperson, on condition of anonymity in line with policy.
“Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaeda commander?”
A stupid statement.
One would not necessarily have to die to disable an airliner with an unarmed fighter. That’s why they give them ejection seats. One could severely cripple an airliner without suffering catastrophic damage, then eject. Not risk-free, but not certain death either.
TC
Good guys — especially well-trained good guys — are worth more than bad guys.
When I was a radar weapons controller in the AF many years ago this was addressed and pilots in Air Defense Command were briefed and knew how to do the maneuver. It was called a Slide-By and it was to be performed against waves of Soviet bombers carrying nuclear weapons against the U.S. The technique was to occur after the expenditure of all defensive weapons and involved flying up parallel and in front of the bombers wing. Then you decelerated and pulled up into the forward edge of the bomber’s wing. Obviously it was never practiced!
That sounds like how the Brits used to down V-1s, fly under the wing tip and flip it into a dive.
My thought exactly. Fighters usually travel in pairs. It’s senseless to even consider destroying a pilot and plane for some Al Qeada henchman.
I wouldn’t call it completely senseless.
I can imagine a scenario where, if we were certain, the AQ leader was accompianing a nuclear device that such a maneuver should be considered.
Of course, were I in command, I would never court-martial a pilot for refusing to kill himself in order to stop it. However, valliant self sacrifice has been voluntarily performed in less extreme circumstances than this one, so I don’t see where it would hurt to suggest it.
Our fighting men can be trusted to make the right choice themselves without making the idea of ordering suicide official policy.
I’m sure the Air Vice-Marshal will be leading the flight !!!!.... NOT!!!!!
So, what would Jack Bauer do?
How about making sure they have enough ammo to carry out their mission?
I don’t see where I advocated ordering suicide as policy in my statement.
I merely suggest that in some extreme circumstances it could be a consideration to request volutarily. Sometimes if things go unspoken, they go undone. It never hurts to talk about “what-ifs”.
Commanders usually let the troops know what the stakes are. The phrase “at all costs” means exactly that.
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