MoD investigations into ‘friendly fire’ deaths
reviewed
Summary
Combat identification is the way military personnel
distinguish friend from foe and non-combatants during operations, thereby
minimising the risk of deaths and injuries from friendly fire as well as damage
to property and infrastructure, whilst maintaining operational
effectiveness.
Combat identification is a complex issue as it
spans all the military environments - land, maritime, and air - particularly
when operations are conducted in coalition with allies, as this requires
interoperability of equipment and harmonisation of tactics and practices.
Following on from an
NAO
Report (HC 936) published in March 2006, this House of Commons Committee of
Public Accounts Report
‘Progress
in Combat Identification’ (HC 486) examines three main issues:
- Progress on equipment projects to improve combat identification
- 'Operation TELIC' and investigations into friendly fire deaths
- Data collection of friendly fire incidents.
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How
does it affect me?
If you work in the armed forces, this affects you.
The Report finds that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has failed to
develop viable combat identification solutions to counter the risks of friendly
fire incidents - despite their devastating effects and despite the
recommendations made by the Committee in 1992 and 2002 - with significant
delays in equipment programmes such as the Battlefield Target Identification
System.
Given the considerable delays in the time the MoD took to
conclude the investigations into friendly fire incidents and to make the
findings publicly available, the Report recommends that once investigations
into friendly fire incidents are complete, the MoD should publish the findings
of Boards of Inquiry within one month.
Find out more about the
Committee
of Public Accounts.
Watch
Committee of Public Accounts Meetings.
Visit the
Ministry of Defence
website.