The widow of a Navy pilot killed when a Patriot missile hit his plane during the invasion of Iraq in 2003 sued the weapon's producer Raytheon Co. in federal court in Boston yesterday, accusing the company of negligence in the design and manufacture of the renowned air-defense system.
...system was prone to malfunctions that misidentified US warplanes as enemy missiles and "occurred with alarming frequency and were well-known to Raytheon before the incident..
The suit is rare in focusing on a weapons maker , but Raytheon could be easier for the plaintiffs to sue than military authorities, who enjoy near-complete immunity from actions by service members or their relatives.
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2007/02/07/widow_of_navy_pilot_sues_raytheon?mode=PF