USAF says crew not to blame yet issues administrative warning for crew's records.
Special operations sources dismissed those findings, saying the sole cause of the accident was the B-1B crew not knowing how their sensors worked. And, they say, the Air Force air controller on the ground provided the crew wrong information.
No proper training for an environment that requires such attention to detail. Why? The Wing/Group/Squadron trainers will take a kick in the nuts if their ducks are not in a row.
The team came under fire. The B-1B crew, which had not been briefed that they would be asked to drop bombs, was alerted to provide close-air support, or CAS.
The Americans were wearing infrared strobes that designated them as friendly.
The B-1B crew saw no infrared signal on its high-definition sniper pod and thus concluded the source of muzzle flashes must be the enemy. Tragically, the crew did not know the pod had no technical ability to see the strobe. They assured the controller on the ground that they could see strobes, but saw none.
Compounding that mistake, a pilot searched for any strobes, using his night vision goggles, which do have the capability to see strobes. But the B-1B was flying a 5-mile orbit, at 12,000 feet, and thus outside the goggles’ range.
I suspect some joint commanders may even decide to not use the B-1 and when drawing up plans, and ask for anything else. Just as serious, bringing into question, a USAF JTAC. A thousand 'at-a-boys' is removed by one 'oh-shit'.
Overhead drones would have been useful. Maybe Special Ops needs its own dedicated drone fleet in sufficient quantity?
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