History Main / SittingDuck

* ''Film/ABridgeTooFar'': After several days, the Polish paratroopers finally join the battle in Arnhem. Unfortunately, they are dropped in broad daylight and by now, the Germans are well aware of the Allies' battle plan. A squad of SS troops are waiting for them on the ground to begin shooting while the Poles are still in the air and unable to defend themselves or even hide.

* If you get into a Japanese harbor in ''Silent Hunter 4'', you can often find a lot of enemy ships that are this.

* In the opening cinematic of ''VideoGame/MechWarrior 4: Vengeance'', the Steiner forces' sudden attack catches the Dresari House Guard unprepared, and while they rush into combat as swiftly as they can, an errant missile strike on the primary mech hangar causes a detonation that takes out everyone except 2 mechwarriors (a third mech is engulfed by the fireball just short of escaping the hangar), who don't last much longer against the odds they're facing.

* ''VideoGame/StarcraftBroodWar'' has a level where Kerrigan turns against her allies, the Dominions led by General Duke ([[KickTheSonOfABitch to most players' glee]]) and the Protoss led by Fenix ([[PlayerPunch to their consternation]]). You start with a time limit during which neither base produces units or attack waves, letting you take out one faction's base.

* ''VideoGame/WarcraftIII'' has a similar level in the expansion where Kerrigan sneaks her way into a city controlled by the Dreadlord Detheroc and the humans he's mind-controlled (led by [[HateSink Grand Marshal Garithos]]). As in Brood War, the timer is usually enough to take out a single side's base (with the game itself recommending you use banshees to possess powerful enemy units along the way).

** One of the main reasons ''why'' the Americans were sitting ducks in Pearl Harbor was partially due to surprise, and partially due to being GenreSavvy in the wrong department. In Hawaii, while no one was prepared for an aerial attack, the top brass at Oahu were more concerned with possible saboteurs, since the appearance of Hawaii's natives made it hard to tell a native apart from a Japanese spy. For this reason, the fighters were organized in large, clustered groups which made them easier to guard and watch over, but also made quick takeoffs in an emergency—such as, say, an aerial attack—all but impossible…

What do the CoolShip, CoolStarship, and CoolPlane all have in common? They are all at their most vulnerable when in docked in port or while parked on the ground. This is a state of vulnerability that pretty much everyone and everything has to accept at some point, as personnel need food and sleep, ships need maintenance, and nobody has found a way to keep a plane in the sky indefinitely yet. A savvy enemy can use the element of surprise to sucker punch an enemy, even a numerically or technically superior enemy, before they can bring their forces into play. Methods for this can range from [[MolotovTruck Fireships]] to [[DeathFromAbove attack planes]] or a [[MacrossMissileMassacre long range missile attack.]]

The Trope name comes from a hunting phrase referring to ducks sitting on the water, often considered to be off limits until they take flight. Due to its applicability, the phrase was adopted in the military aviation community to refer to airplanes that had been caught on the ground, although of course very few pilots have a problem with destroying an enemy plane before it can get airborne.

** Later on, Captain Sheridan attempted to invoke this trope on a Shadow [[FanNickname Battlecrab]] on [[spoiler:the Jovian moon of Ganymede]], but arrived just in time to see the ship launch and destroy the facilities there.

* ''TabletopGame{{Battletech}}'': The setting's {{Drop Ship}}s typically avoid "hot drops" (dropping troops near or on top of enemy forces) and stay on the ground for as short period of time as possible for this exact reason: Drop Ships are very easy to spot and attack with aircraft, artillery and 'mechs, and extremely rare and valuable. In-game a grounded Drop Ship can be deployed as a set piece for a battle, where they represent as much [[PointBuySystem Battle Value]] as a trio of assault 'mechs. [[GlassCannon While armed to the teeth, Drop Ships are relatively easy to destroy with focused fire]] because they're so easy to hit.

** In season two the Cylons plant a new virus in ''Galactica'''s systems. Sharon Agathon is able to turn it back on the Cylons and render an entire squadron of Raiders immobile. The Raptor pilots gleefully take the opportunity to mete out some payback against the helpless ships.

* Used in both series of ''Franchise/{{Battlestar Galactica}}'', in different ways. In the [[Series/BattlestarGalactica1978 original series]], the Cylons planned to attack the ''[[TheBattlestar Galactica]]'' while all of her pilots were being honored at a party on the planet Carillon. Fortunately, Commander Adama was far too GenreSavvy to let that happen, and came up with a BatmanGambit of his own.
** In [[Series/BattleStarGalactica2003 the reboot series]], the Cylons were able to ''[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard invoke]]'' this trope via a computer virus that [[EverythingIsOnline remotely shut down all of the Colonial fleet's systems]], leaving their ships adrift in space at the [[CurbstompBattle worst possible moment]]. The Galactica and its fighters were immune because their computers were so obsolete, the virus couldn't do anything to them.

** In [[Series/BattleStarGalactica2003 the reboot series]], the Cylons were able to ''[[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard invoke]]'' this trope via a computer virus that [[EverythingIsOnline remotely shut down all of the Colonial fleet's systems]], leaving their ships adrift in space at the [[CurbstompBattle worst possible moment]].

* In the second episode of ''[[Anime/SentouYouseiYukikaze Yukikaze]]'', the titular [[AIIsACrapshoot plane]] suddenly and inexplicably opens fire on an entire row of FAF planes parked at Tactical Air Base 15, causing the FAF top brass to recall Yukikaze and have it brought in for system checks. [[spoiler:Turns out it was a good thing it did, as those planes had been sabotaged by enemy infiltrators, and Yukikaze was also attempting to kill the infiltrators that were present on the airstrip.]]

* The Wolf Pack arc of ''Manga/{{Area 88}}'' focuses on a mercenary group who destroy most of the planes at Area 88 while they're on the ground.
* In the second episode of ''[[Franchise/SentouYouseiYukikaze Yukikaze]]'', the titular [[AIIsACrapshoot plane]] suddenly and inexplicably opens fire on an entire row of FAF planes parked at Tactical Air Base 15, causing the FAF top brass to recall Yukikaze and have it brought in for system checks. [[spoiler:Turns out it was a good thing it did, as those planes had been sabotaged by enemy infiltrators, and Yukikaze was also attempting to kill the infiltrators that were present on the airstrip.]]

* Admiral Leighton launches a raid on a the Spanish harbor of Rosas, in order to attack and sink a squadron of damaged French warships while they attempted to make repairs in the HoratioHornblower novel ''Flying Colours''.

** Londo's CrowningMomentOfAwesome was when he invoked this trope on [[spoiler:the Shadow base on Centauri Prime.]]

* Operation Focus was the opening airstrike by Israel at the start of the [[UsefulNotes/ArabIsraeliConflict Six-Day War of 1967]]. At 07:45 on June 5, 1967, the Israeli Air Force launched a massive airstrike, using very nearly every airworthy plane they had, which destroyed the majority of the Egyptian air force on the ground. By noon, the Egyptian, Jordanian and Syrian Air Forces, with about 450 aircraft, were destroyed, allowing the Israelis to enjoy air supremacy for the entire war. The war only lasted six days.