In the history of American warfare, around 15 percent of the country’s casualties have been caused by so-called friendly fire. In recent wars, sophisticated U.S. weaponry and increasingly confusing battlefield situations have propelled that number to more than 20 percent. But now a team from Sandia National Labs is leading a field of contenders in the creation of small radio tag sensors that could be mounted on U.S. and allied tanks and other ground vehicles, allowing friendly aircraft to recognize them and lessen the chance of an unintended aerial attack. “We’re trying to give the guys on the ground something to identify themselves with,” says Lars Wells, project manager on Sandia’s anti-fratricide initiative, “so that if someone happens to be in the wrong spot, (pilots) can see in their cockpit that there actually is a friendly in the area and prevent them from dropping the weapons.” Full Story
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