Friendly Fire
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Synopsis
In just fourteen days of war in Iraq, ‘friendly fire’ accounted for two fighter planes, a Challenger II tank, two Scimitar armoured vehicles, two Tornado pilots, an F16 pilot, two tank operators, one armoured vehicle driver, three journalists, Captain Ed Korn and a Patriot missile fire control radar. Could it have been avoided? Yes. Alarm bells had been sounding over this issue ever since the first Gulf War, in which 15 British soldiers were killed by ‘friendly fire’– of whom 9 (a massive 60%) were killed by Americans. In the same war, United States forces killed 35 of their own men out of a total of 112 fatalities (over 30%). Prior to the onset of hostilities in this Gulf War a number of well-placed individuals tried their utmost to raise the alarm. But no-one was listening.
This film examines the causes and consequences of Friendly Fire incidents during war and looking at the technology that could prevent such incidents happening again.
In just fourteen days of war in Iraq, ‘friendly fire’ accounted for two fighter planes, a Challenger II tank, two Scimitar armoured vehicles, two Tornado pilots, an F16 pilot, two tank operators, one armoured vehicle driver, three journalists, Captain Ed Korn and a Patriot missile fire control radar. Could it have been avoided? Yes. Alarm bells had been sounding over this issue ever since the first Gulf War, in which 15 British soldiers were killed by ‘friendly fire’– of whom 9 (a massive 60%) were killed by Americans. In the same war, United States forces killed 35 of their own men out of a total of 112 fatalities (over 30%). Prior to the onset of hostilities in this Gulf War a number of well-placed individuals tried their utmost to raise the alarm. But no-one was listening.

This film examines the causes and consequences of Friendly Fire incidents during war and looking at the technology that could prevent such incidents happening again.
Duration
1 x 50'
Definition
SD
Genre
Factual
Subgenre
Current Affairs
Producer
3BM TELEVISION LIMITED