The F-16s that were scrambled to intercept United 93 did not have time to arm the jets, so the pilots were going to “ram it” how does that work?
(disclaimer - Former USAF armament specialist)
The intention was not necessarily to &quot;ram&quot;, but rather get eyeballs on the situation and take whatever action was needed. That may have, eventually, been a &quot;ramming&quot;.
Obviously, that was not their first choice of action.
And ramming a 757 was not a thing that was practiced or planned for.
As far as &quot; this was in the days before armed jets stood ready to take off at a moment's notice&quot;, that is false. There were 7 bases around the country, with fighter jets on alert. On that specific day, 2x F-15 from Otis AFB, MA and 2x F-16 from Langley AFB, VA had already launched to intercept the other airliners that were in play. Those 4 were fully armed.
Andrews AFB MD was not one of those few alert bases.
The pilots from the DC Guard knew that the WTC had been deliberately targeted, and would take whatever action that turned out to be needed.
For them being 'unarmed', that is the usual case for 99% of fighter jets on US soil. They don't all sit around with missiles and hot guns.
And to put missiles on them takes time. Time they didn't have. It would be a minimum of 30 minutes to get the missiles out of the storage area, tow them to the flightline, and load them on the jets.
Munitions are NOT stored right next to the jets.
While the DC Guard jets were being launched, other jets were being prepped with missiles. Turned out not to be needed.
The question often asked is how the USAF was caught with their pants down.
Well, the alert jets around the country were mainly for threats coming in from the coasts or over Canada. Russian Bears, for instance. Perimeter defense.
Not a known friendly civilian airliner, suddenly turning hostile once it is already inside the perimeter.
And up until the mid-90's, there were many more jets on alert around the country. East coast, probably every couple hundred miles. Loring ME, Griffiss NY, Langley VA, Shaw, SC, on and on all around the coast and borders.
The drawdown of the mid 90's did away with most of that tasking.