Sniper Pods ...
Incident happened in 2014
Can someone tell us if the Sniper Pod ( POS )
been fixed to pick up a light ???? Light for God Sakes ....
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/20/air-force-returns-afghanistan-friendly-fire-crew-t/
B - 1B Bomber
Sniper POD ( POS )
Sniper Pod hang underneath Military Aircraft. Made to Detect and ID The Enemy. This
so we don't have Friendly Fire Incidents. However, Our Military uses a Sniper Pod System
that cannot pick up a Strobe Light ?? Infrared Strobe Lights. Worn by Our Soldiers.
( this so the enemy cannot see the light )
You'd think something costing over $ 800 Million could pick up anything. Let alone, a
light, an Infrared strobe light attached to Our Soldiers Helmet so not to get Bombed.
Night or day. Perhaps our Air Force could ask the Navy Seals and Army Green Beret what they us to be ID by friendly aircraft. Just an idea. Perhaps too, the Designer next time will
also ask the Navy Seals and Army Green Beret what ID they us to not get bombed day or
night !! Just saying ...
Air Force Major General Blames Army Captain ... B.S.
IT WAS THE SNIPER POD ( POS ) THAT KILLED THEM
SOLDIERS ...
He was under fire dumbass. You'd be stressed too. How can an Air Force Gen. pass
blame to a different service ?? Who didn't see that coming ... ??? The SNIPER POD
was to blame. Plus the Air Force Crew thought that IT COULD INDEED Pick
up Infrared Light ! They never saw the strobes ... FUBR ...
- You RetweetedOn June 9, 2014, 5 US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan. It was the deadliest such incident involving US fatalities in 16 years of war there. #60Minutes
- You RetweetedThe classified official investigation, obtained by #60Minutes, concluded that everyone--the soldiers, the bomber crew, the Air Force controller, all thought the B-1 was able to detect infrared strobes. They were all wrong.
The Air Force has returned to flight duty the four B-1B crew members who dropped two bombs that killed five U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan in June — the deadliest “friendly fire” incident in the long war.
None of the Air Force or Green Beret troops directly involved in the accidental bombing has been relieved of duty or faced criminal charges, despite an investigation that found startling deficiencies.
U.S. Central Command’s official investigation of the incident found that the four fliers — two pilots and two weapons officers — did not realize the bomber’s high-definition targeting — or “SNIPER” — pod wasn’t capable of detecting the infrared strobes worn by the soldiers.
The crew also tried to locate the strobes using a pair of night vision goggles, the only system on the aircraft that could detect the “friendly” signals. But the plane was flying too high, beyond the goggles’ range.
The crew reported to a ground Air Force target spotter that they saw no infrared beacons. It became a false confirmation that the group of men below were the enemy, and the crew dropped two 500-pound, satellite-directed bombs on their fellow Americans.
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The Air Force issued a statement in January saying Gen. Wolters determined that the air crew’s “procedural miscues did not directly cause the loss of life in this matter.”
Army special operations sources scoff at that finding, arguing that the crew’s basic lack of knowledge about their aircraft directly led to the fratricide.
The Central Command investigation, led by Air Force Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian, also faulted the doomed soldiers’ Green Beret team captain and the senior enlisted soldier for a faulty radio, not enough pre-mission rehearsal and a lack of full situational awareness.
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On the night of June 9, the Green Beret-led force of Americans and Afghans had completed a village-clearing operation and came under fire while awaiting extraction helicopters.
The B-1B arrived to perform close air support at 12,000 feet and a 5-mile orbit. It then dropped the two bombs on the Americans positioned on a ridge line.
Killed were Staff Sgt. Jason McDonald, Staff Sgt. Scott Studenmund, Spec. Justin Helton, Cpl. Justin Clouse and Pvt. Aaron Toppen. An Afghan army sergeant also died.
The tragedy has been cited in Washington’s debate over the future of the A-10, a storied attack jet designed in the 1970s specifically for close air support.
Former pilots say the deaths never would have happened if a low-flying A-10 Thunderbolt had been dispatched that night, because its pilots know how to use night vision goggles and would have been able to see the “friendly” strobes.
The Air Force, citing tight budgets, is retiring the A-10, which is deployed in the ongoing air war against the Islamic State terrorist army. Sen. John McCain, Arizona Republican and chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, has criticized the Air Force for shutting down A-10 squadrons before providing a dedicated replacement. He says the B-1B strategic bomber is ill-suited for close air support.
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