Thou Shalt Not Fly
By Commander Jeff Huber, USN
A U.S. fighter pilot patrols the no-fly zone. Suddenly, a bogey pops up on his radarscope. Thirty miles apart, the two aircraft close at more than 20 miles a minute. They are seconds away from each other's standoff weapons' range. Should the fighter pilot shoot first and risk killing a friendly or neutral? Should he press for a visual identification and risk being killed by the other aircraft's beyond-visual-range missile? Should he turn and run, possibly allowing a zone violation? If he runs, will the other guy attack someone on the ground the fighter pilot was assigned to protect?
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Commander Huber is a freelance writer and a regular Proceedings contributor. He recently coauthored a piece on command and control of U.S. naval forces for Jane's Fighting Ships.
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