Fighter Jet missile malfunction

Browsing through youtube (as you do) i find a video of an incident/accident of an SU-25 sitting on the tarmac which somehow launched one of its missiles.

On Apr. 17, 2020 a rocket accidentally fired by a Chadian Air Force Su-25 Frogfoot parked at Base Aérienne Kossei NDjamena, Chad, struck an empty tanker truck, missed a French Air Force C-130H from the Escadron de transport (Transport Squadron) 2/61 Franche Comté, and landed in the house of Deputy Commander of the Presidential Guard, General Mahamata Salaha Brahima, killing two children and two adults, and wounding two others.

From The Aviationist

How is this even possible?

There was the story of a Belgian F-16 firing its Gatling gun while on the ground which destroyed another F-16 but that was Maintainers accidentally firing the airplanes gun. Popular Mechanics

The cause of the accident is being investigated.

So, what might have caused it to launch? Someone messing with buttons or cleaning/inspecting them? The Chadian heat? Electrical fault?

I think it will be very interesting to see what they find as the answer.

a reply to: Moohide

Either they were working the weapons system before launch and installed WOW shims, to bypass the WOW switch, or there was a short in the system. There's no possible pilot checklist that would have both the Master Arm on, and pushing any button that would launch a weapon.

a reply to: Moohide

A very sophisticated system hack..... maybe.

Whatever dude..you never seen Iron Eagle?
😅😂🤣



a reply to: Zaphod58

a reply to: Catch_a_Fire

Not a hack. If they haven't had the upgrades, the Su-25 is about as unsophisticated as they come. Even if they have had it, there are so many mechanical systems they'd have to alter in the system it wouldn't be quick.

a reply to: lakenheath24

You think the Electric Jet doesn't have shorts all through it's electrical system? Hollywood actually got that right.

a reply to: Zaphod58
1984 we had a Sidewinder cook off from an A-7. It skipped off of the flight deck, went over the side and into the water. It was later found that the WOW system was bypassed for deck tests of the launch rail since the rail was not often used.

Oh hell yeah. Where do you thing those electrical rounding classes startred.

I remember having to replace the gun harness and all the wiring going back to the chaff/flare receptacles on a Moody jet. And thoze effing flap seals to replace relays....christ. I did not like working 16's at all.






a reply to: Zaphod58

a reply to: lakenheath24

Never touched a F-16. The A-7 was bad enough.

a reply to: JIMC5499

There's a really neat antiskid wire on the nose gear, that's where you need a mirror to see it. But it's dark enough you need a flashlight to light the area, and it's so small you need a magnifying glass to see it. Good times. I thank God that I never had to deal with it.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Anti-skid? What's anti-skid?

I picked one of those up in a north florida swamp around 1990. Pilot ejected at 20k or something crazy.

I found the gun barrels though....all six were still tied together 20ft up a tree!



a reply to: JIMC5499

John McCains spirit jumped into someone?

Play it again Sam.

a reply to: JIMC5499

I'd rather deal with mechanical brakes than anti skid. That crap caused more problems than it solved. We had five B-1s on jacks, one on the runway.

a reply to: lakenheath24

The few that we lost usually went for a swim. I was in a helo squadron, but, I was responsible for knowing all of the aircraft to pass my promotion exams, so I kind of pitched in.

Weird! Something I can contribute to. This was in 2017

I was deployed to Jordan at one of the bases that US forces were operating out of for OIR. This base has since been expanded and made very cushy, but at the time it was relatively sparse. There was a supposedly secret squirrel airport right next door and I would regularly see unmarked Predators and Reapers fly out of it carrying combat loads. The runway lined up perfectly with the ECP and they'd fly right over my head. The Airport is on google earth but it's unmarked. Nothing is particularly secret as far as I know but it's weird talking about stuff like this.

I was manning the ECP and mirroring vehicles when I heard a loud WOOSH followed by a bang. There was a big cloud of dust and smoke maybe a quarter mile away in the desert. We reacted like we were taking fire, but quickly realized that it was nothing. Me and a few other guys were kinda keyed up, but disappointed when we realized we weren't going to be getting our CIBs that day. After a half hour or so we went back to normal.

A couple days later, one of the Battle Captains that I used to give cigars to invited me into the command building. The RAID camera (very powerful camera on a tall tower) had recorded what happened.

The camera was scanning the perimeter, when you see something streak from right to left across the screen. The operator quickly tracks over and sees the dust cloud, then tracks back and sees a commotion on the airfield. Eventually you see them quickly wheel the pred back into a hanger.

The battle captain then tells me that after the JAF got very mad and threatened to cause trouble whoever runs the airport begrudgingly admitted to whoever coordinates these things that they had a hellfire shoot off the rail of a Predator that was doing a run-up before take off.

Besides the time that some marines ND'd a 240 in my direction that was the most danger I was ever in. It's also the most interesting story from my deployment (besides the time we were surrounded by angry Bedouins in the desert).

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: lakenheath24

You think the Electric Jet doesn't have shorts all through it's electrical system? Hollywood actually got that right.

I present to you all...en.wikipedia.org...

It was a f-4 zuni rocket that started the blaze.

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: lakenheath24

You think the Electric Jet doesn't have shorts all through it's electrical system? Hollywood actually got that right.

I present to you all...en.wikipedia.org...

It was a f-4 zuni rocket that started the blaze.

Zuni's were dangerous in the presence of any stray voltage.

originally posted by: pteridine

originally posted by: yuppa

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: lakenheath24

You think the Electric Jet doesn't have shorts all through it's electrical system? Hollywood actually got that right.

I present to you all...en.wikipedia.org...

It was a f-4 zuni rocket that started the blaze.

Zuni's were dangerous in the presence of any stray voltage.

True for ALL missiles where they are armed and a short in the firing switch happens.