[wyattearp]

"No, do not shoot at the Admiral's car. No, do not shoot at our fellow ship. No, do not shoot down our friendly outbounds."

Watched some really sick dudes on a Spruance do a "keep a close eye on that seagull" with a Phalanx once. They microwaved it in mid-air. The really impressive thing is that it tracked the seagull!

[Spktyr]

Oh, yeah, the Phalanx is a great system - but it's wholly indiscriminate and bloody near rabid in its fully-automated version. Not a bad thing when you're engaging a Soviet battlegroup. Not so great when you're operating in concert with other ships in littoral warfare...