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| Britain |
| Fury at RAF Kamikaze plan |
| 2007-04-03 |
| RAF Top Guns were stunned last night after being asked to think of being Kamikaze pilots in the war on terror. Elite fliers were shocked into silence when a senior RAF chief said they should consider suicide missions as a last resort against terrorist targets. Air Vice Marshal David Walker put forward the attacks — like those flown by desperate Japanese pilots in World War Two — as a “worst case scenario” should they run out of ammo or their weapons failed. He asked aircrews at a conference: “Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaeda commander?” Such an order would mean certain death for a pilot who cost £6million to train — and the loss of a £50million jet. Last night pilots slammed the suggestion as “utter madness”. One — summing up a flabbergasted “After you, Sir” reaction — said: “I’m prepared to give it a go but only if the Air Vice Marshal shows me how to do it first.” Another added: “The idea of officers ordering personnel to commit suicide is disgusting.” Air Vice Marshal Walker is head of the RAF’s elite One Group and in operational control of all our Typhoon, Tornado, Jaguar, and Harrier fighters and bombers. The crews he was addressing included newly-qualified pilots of the Typhoon, Britain’s latest state-of-the-art fighter. The officer, based in the Air Command bunker at High Wycombe, Bucks, gave an example of the sacrifice to be expected from a wartime Spitfire pilot if his guns had jammed and Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was in a car below. Air Vice Marshal Walker — himself a former Top Gun Harrier pilot who had his cockpit canopy shot out in action over Iraq — told crews they knew when they joined up they would have to risk their lives. But one Top Gun stormed: “His idea of leadership is to suggest that it is within his power to authorise the first example of an ordered Kamikaze attack in the RAF’s 89-year history. “He is subtly suggesting that if he wished he could order anyone in his command to die.” Another said: “Imagine, as you are floating skyward towards the pearly gates having parked your jet in the desert at 500 knots, that intelligence had it wrong and that the bloke driving the car was actually a plumber taking his children to school? “Imagine trying to fly your fast pointy thing at an evading car. The bloke driving only has to swerve at the last minute and it’s Goodnight Vienna, mission failed.” A third said: “The politicians tell us that we have the right troops and equipment for the job. Surely such tactics, not to mention the loss of expensive equipment and manpower, are not required.” A Top Gun who was at the conference likened it to a scene from Rowan Atkinson’s madcap historical comedy, saying: “It was a true Blackadder moment — a huge shock.” A military source said: “The need to do a kamikaze attack would probably only arise if a very high-value target was to suddenly appear and the jet was out of ammo. “There would be no way for a pilot to survive if he wanted to hit a vehicle.” A senior MoD source said: “Air Vice Marshal Walker was not saying that he would order his crews to sacrifice their lives in order to kill a high-value al-Qaeda target or stop a suicide airliner. He was trying to be provocative and make them ‘think the unthinkable’, the worst-case scenario. “He was making clear that all Service personnel can be asked to sacrifice themselves. Indeed, there have been occasions when soldiers, sailors and airmen have done just that. “He wanted crews to understand that he, too, could be faced with terrible decisions.” In an official statement to The Sun, the MoD said: “Air Vice Marshal Walker did not say he would order his crews on suicide missions. “He wanted them to think about how they would react faced with an extreme life or death decision — for example terrorists trying to fly an aircraft into a British city, being followed by an RAF fighter which suffers weapons failure.” Ex-RAF hero John Nichol — shot down and captured in the first Gulf War in 1991 — said: “Being asked to commit suicide is ridiculous. I find it difficult to believe he meant it.” |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #12 Bigfoot - that makes sense, and I'm sure those willingly giving their lives to save entire American cities would volunteer. That's why they deserve our praise and support |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-04-03 21:29 |
| #11 Back in the day, if a soviet boomer were on the surface and getting ready to fire its nukes and there were no other way to take it out, it was just understood that the ASW aircraft involved would crash directly into it. That's just the way it was, and everybody on board knew it. |
| Posted by: Bigfoot Sheamp2218 2007-04-03 21:26 |
| #10 Evidently, there's a world of difference between an American and Soviet ram-jet. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-03 21:22 |
| #9 Russian prop-craft pilots were instructed, as a last resort, to use their plane's propeller to chew into an enemy aircraft Chewing my ass. They rammed German combat aircraft... Instructions were not necessary, Russians are hardwired. Indeed. Soviet pilot SOP was when in combat and they ran out of ordnance, they did have the option of ramming enemy aircraft. While it wasn't common, it did happen. Some pilots even survived the ramming. |
| Posted by: badanov 2007-04-03 19:11 |
| #8 Russian prop-craft pilots were instructed, as a last resort, to use their plane's propeller to chew into an enemy aircraft Instructions were not necessary, Russians are hardwired. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2007-04-03 18:02 |
| #7 How hard would it be to set up an F-14 to fly by remote control from an AWACs. Paint the thing with Iranian markings and smash it into the target of choice. Make sure cameras are there so everyone sees the markings and assumes it's an accident. Do it twice and the Iranian people might start to think that their own Air Force is in rebellion. I'd bet Ahmadajad would start a purge, blaming his own officers. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2007-04-03 17:36 |
| #6 Is this the same Britain that would not or stopped an order to rescue 15 of its personnel being abducted on the high seas? Sounds like the top dogs over there are both out of touch, one with a terminal case of testicular atrophy, the other with a severe case of the vapors. (WWWD: What Would Winston Do?) |
| Posted by: USN, Ret. 2007-04-03 17:24 |
| #5 ...I've worked with the RAF and I know their history - if these men saw a target whose survival would mean the death of hundreds or thousands or millions of Britons, they wouldn't hesitate to firewall the throttles and dive into it. It sounds to me like AVM Walker managed to word it like he was suggesting the possibility of ordered suicide attacks as a part of routine combat ops. I can't imagine ordering anyone to dive into a car carrying Bin Laden - it would be a LOT more valuable to have them follow the vehicle. Mike |
| Posted by: Mike Kozlowski 2007-04-03 16:42 |
| #4 Drat it all. I was going to make a wisecrack about "tarang" being difficult to do in a jet, but Google only turns up hits for a new Russian radar with that name. Anyone else here familiar with how Russian prop-craft pilots were instructed, as a last resort, to use their plane's propeller to chew into an enemy aircraft? I recall this maneuver being called "tarang". As to this RAF nonsense, the pilots have every right to be absolutely outraged. “Would you think it unreasonable if I ordered you to fly your aircraft into the ground in order to destroy a vehicle carrying a Taliban or al-Qaeda commander?” Ummmm ... yes. The vehicle convoys of most top officials have numerous decoy cars specifically to reduce the effectiveness of such a threat. Wotta rectal cavity! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-04-03 16:07 |
| #3 I've seen jets do a tailstand before. Just do one of those over the vehicle in question and you won't need to even touch it, I guarantee! |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-04-03 16:02 |
| #2 "You will fly HIGH up inna sky!..." |
| Posted by: Albemarle Glulet4077 2007-04-03 15:52 |
| #1 Is The Sun aware that April Fool's Day was two days ago? Or maybe Walker needs to be made aware of it. Sheesh... |
| Posted by: Dar 2007-04-03 14:54 |