Japanese sailors mistakenly trimmed A-6 America as the target of flying to fire Phalanx cannon, shot down to the Allies on the rehearsal on June 4, 1996.

Pilot William Royster and Pepper Keith Douglas belonged to the fifteen of the United States of the United States that day joined the Pacific Ring Battle (RIMPAC) took place off the Hawaii Islands.

Lieutenant Colonel Royster was tasked with controlling the A-6E Intruder power control, derived from USS Independence carrier, dragging the target to force the train to train the real bullet.

This is not a common task of the A-6E, but plays an important role to test the ability to fight the combat and accuracy of the naval defense systems, in this case, two cannons

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Royster's A-6e then dragged the target of 2 m in the sea of about 2,400 km west of Hawaii Islands.

The US Navy Pacific Fleet said beautiful weather, heaven and there was no cloudy at the time of rehearsal.

The rehearsal content to check the reaction speed of Yuugiri JDS with a road threat.

After clinging to the target, the jds Yuugiri crew fired Phalanx firecrackers with a speed of shot of 3,000 plays / minute.

Recognizing this mistake, the Yuugiri ship crew deployed the canoe and picked up two US naval pilots after only a few minutes, they were taken to the USS Independence carrier by helicopter.

Japan ordered a suspension to use real bullets in rehearsals, while US officials find a way to mitigate the severity of the incident to avoid stressing with a close allies.

The US President was Bill Clinton also accepted Japanese apology on June 5.

JS Yuugiri to the sea training in 2020. Photo: Twitter / Takao_19320531

The two-country military opened the incident investigation.

However, Japanese defense officials later rejected this hypothesis, said the phalanx system was not installed in automatic mode when the incident occurred.

The Phalanx complex is then equipped with an optical sensor system - electronics and coaxial infrared with the barrel, increasing the ability to catch the target and enemy identification - TA for ships.

The incident did not leave serious consequences, but the more embarrassed Japan when it happened only a few months after the F-15J fighter launched the missile shooting against teammates in rehearsals.