Well, you know the community better than I do, but my first thought was, "Knowing the VP community, there is no friggen' way this can be true."
I mean c'mon: even our standoffs have standoffs and the PPC and MC get their nuts hammered for even overlapping the moving circle on the TMS over any one of them.
You really haven't been in the community long, have you?
Well, OK. Maybe not the whole community. Just my old squadron. Propstop will attest to this.
Not just the community, or even the Navy, given the nature of many US aircraft ops it is bound to happen.
I wouldn't be so sure- It has happened before and it can happen again...
....and again and again......
This could have been the EP-3 community since they flew out of that dutch Island just north of Chavezland.
Lots of stuff flies around the Caribbean, including three different US operators of P-3's among other aircraft. Pick one.
Guess life imitates art then. Brits were first though to start arming their MPA operationally when they faced the Arggies off the Falklands in the early 80s...
RAF Nimrod with dual mounted Sidewinders. Integration was rapidly improvised in less than two days after an encounter with an Argentine 707. Some thought was given to mounting them forwards and aft to defend themselves against Argentine Mirage interceptors, but rearward firing missiles have aero issues (negative Velocity to 0 to positive is problematic...note: Russian tear sheet addresses that issue in the text).
I believe there were three separate instances of where a Nimrod on patrol encountered an Argie 707 on patrol. After the Sidewinders were put on they didn't run into them again. The 707's lived a charmed life, one wandered into the missile range of the destroyer
HMS Coventry while shadowing the task force, unfortunately the Brits had a little problem with the missiles hatches getting stuck and couldn't fire their missile, by the time fixed it the Argie had flown out range.
