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The Old Yank is at it again. 
A US marine bomb has strayed off target and hit the ground near a military control building during exercises in the Northern Territory.
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday night, is being investigated by the RAAF Directorate of Flying Safety and other military agencies.
Prime Minister John Howard today said it was unrealistic to expect military exercises to always take place without mishaps.
"Things like this will always happen, we hope not very frequently and we hope not any more dangerously.
"But the idea that you can conduct any kind of military exercise without some kind of potential for mishap is unrealistic."
The Defence Department said the weapon was fired from a US Marine Corps FA-18 Hornet and hit the ground close to a control building on the Delamere Air Weapons Range, south of Darwin.
The misguided US bomb prompted the RAAF to activate emergency procedures. No personnel were injured, but all bombing operations on the weapons range were suspended until after an investigation.
A Defence Department spokesman said "the safety of all our people is paramount".
He said there had been "some damage to range facilities", but was unable to give more information.
He was also unable to say what type of weapon had been fired and refused to speculate on what caused the accident.
The incident occurred during the annual exercise, Southern Frontier, which finishes on August 24. During the exercise, the Tindal Air Base, near Katherine, is providing logistics support to about 500 personnel, 15 FA-18 Hornets and two Hercules from the US Marine Corps' aviation units.
Source: AAP
A US marine bomb has strayed off target and hit the ground near a military control building during exercises in the Northern Territory.
The incident, which occurred on Wednesday night, is being investigated by the RAAF Directorate of Flying Safety and other military agencies.
Prime Minister John Howard today said it was unrealistic to expect military exercises to always take place without mishaps.
"Things like this will always happen, we hope not very frequently and we hope not any more dangerously.
"But the idea that you can conduct any kind of military exercise without some kind of potential for mishap is unrealistic."
The Defence Department said the weapon was fired from a US Marine Corps FA-18 Hornet and hit the ground close to a control building on the Delamere Air Weapons Range, south of Darwin.
The misguided US bomb prompted the RAAF to activate emergency procedures. No personnel were injured, but all bombing operations on the weapons range were suspended until after an investigation.
A Defence Department spokesman said "the safety of all our people is paramount".
He said there had been "some damage to range facilities", but was unable to give more information.
He was also unable to say what type of weapon had been fired and refused to speculate on what caused the accident.
The incident occurred during the annual exercise, Southern Frontier, which finishes on August 24. During the exercise, the Tindal Air Base, near Katherine, is providing logistics support to about 500 personnel, 15 FA-18 Hornets and two Hercules from the US Marine Corps' aviation units.
Source: AAP
Just good to hear that despite some dumb Yank screwed up, all Aussies appear to be well. Find the yank that did it and make him by the beer. A lot of the beer
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