Jason LefkowitzThose three US Air Force F-15Es that got shot down were reportedly all shot down by a single Kuwaiti F/A-18, which if true means there is a pilot somewhere in Kuwait who simultaneously wrecked his career and got 60% of the way towards becoming a fighter ace
tuban_muzuruI smell BS. Here's my guess and it's a bit embarrassing for USAF, these F-15s were tasked with shooting down Shahid drones. F-15 bang-bang is a 20mm M61 Vulcan rotary cannon, it would shred the drone and detonate the explosive.
Best to keep your distance from that explosion.
The Lack Thereof 
@tuban_muzuru
All the planespotters and other military nerds watching the conflict have been confirming it since basically before the USAF acknowledged the downing.
All the planespotters and other military nerds watching the conflict have been confirming it since basically before the USAF acknowledged the downing.
Seiðr@lackthereof @tuban_muzuru I am not an expert in modern air combat systems, but AFAIK FoF (Friend or Foe) systems existed already 30 years ago and had a history then, so how does that fit in?
Yeah, I could be wrong here - and probably am.
@tuban_muzuru @lackthereof Nah, your hypothesis seems more reasonable than the nothingsandwich that a Kuwaiti F-18 wasn't able to discriminate allied F-15s, unless (but why?) they had the FoF transponders off.
@Illuminatus @tuban_muzuru
Given the amount of dumb shit going on, it would not surprise me if they had the transponders off and forgot to tell Kuwait about it.
I honestly can't come up with any explanation for this that doesn't require the assumption that someone involved did something dumb as hell. It's all equally unbelievable to me.
@lackthereof Certainly, the moment Whiskey Pete became secretary of whatever, professionality of the armed forces didn't just take a backseat, it directly decided to open the car door, take its chances and throw itself off. @tuban_muzuru