[Basileus]

Danger close is a bad thing...

I hadn't heard of ADA units shooting down own aircraft with much frequency, but there were plenty of blue on blue airstrikes historically, even as recently as OIF. In the Korean War during the Pusan Perimeter fight, a British brigade tragically got hammered by a dozen American F-51s when the Brits set out their air recognition panel (big green cloth, IIRC) and the North Koreans on the hill opposite them set up an identical panel on their hill, which confused the pilots. ADA fire didn't drive them off, and they didn't stop until they were out of ordnance.

An interesting anecdote involving General Fred Franks during Desert Storm: his command helo goes way off course in the middle of the fighting, and he ends up over Iraqi lines without getting shot down. Pilot, realizing his error, heads back to friendly skies...but now, they would have to cross the front lines, unescorted, and there was a very real danger that they could get shot down by their own side. Fortunately for all involved, either our troops were too busy chasing the Iraqis, or they exercised excellent ADA fire discipline, he made it without a shot fired.

One more anecdote involving US Army HAWK batteries during the Cold War: apparently they worked out rules for flight vectors, altitudes, and airspeed for friendly aircraft so they wouldn't get lit up by own ADA. Flyboys being the rambunctious sort, however, our planes rarely followed the prescribed...but across the border, East German MiGs would perfectly mimic these secret flight rules over their side. May have been the impetus to improve IFF technology...

Basileus