Can be a cause of fratricide?

Answer 1

There are many causes of fratricide; the most common cause is the fog of war. The fog of war is a term that describes the uncertainty that comes with the fast action and changeable situations found in combat. No plan ever survives the first shot, meaning that the enemy is never going to do what you expect him to do. The best way to combat fratricide is training. A soldier also needs to be flexible, know his comrades and how they react, ensure positive target identification, and maintain situational awareness.

Commanders can limit fratricide by developing simple, decisive plans, giving complete and concise orders, using common language and vocabulary, establish effective communication, plan for collocation of CPs whenever it is appropriate to the mission, such as during a passage of lines, make sure ROE are clear, use position/navigation devices (GPS, BlueForce Tracking), and discuss all fratricide, near fratricide incidents in AAR.

At the most basic level, fratricide is a result of either misidentifying a force as enemy (when its really friendly), or mistakes in location, where assumptions or plans about friendly vs enemy movements either do not keep up with actual events, or there is a breakdown in communications informing parties as the current locations of friendlies. Anything that interferes with identifications (visual or electronic) or causes a comms breakdown can lead to fratricide.