Hard to know how highly developed their air defense network is. If it is a bunch of stand alone missile launchers its very easy to understand. I would assume their individual radars have reasonable abilities though. Might have been some young Lieutenant who figured it would be better to explain away a smoking hole in the ground full of airliner parts than to let a Yanqui Pig get through his airspace.
I was referring more towards airlines flying in or through conflict areas. I can totally see how a plane could be shot down by accident. The USA is guilty of that as well.
Apparently the plane was shot down by a Russian SA-15 system, which if set to "Automatic" will fire on it's own. The system will fire as long as it's turned on, and likely cannot distinguish civilian aircraft. The operators probably didn't really know how to work it properly.
In fairness no one but the Iranians knew what was up unless you are speaking in a more general term. If thats the case when is it safe to fly over that entire part of the globe? I have a simple rule, I don't travel to Mexico, Columbia, Nicaragua, or any Muslim country and I carry a gun whenever I am allowed. It's worked pretty well so far.
Thats what happens when you can't read Russian and they didn't provide a multi lingual operators manual.
The NY Times says this new video is of the missile striking the plane, the earlier video only showed the plane on fire before it crashed. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/09/video/iran-plane-missile.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur&fbclid=IwAR0h5PbULVsLDrSrna3BBMYywuDA7CrGEzey0CwG-BN1fLYm7d9Zp6p54-w
I could understand the Iranians wanting to withhold the data recorders from Boeing or any American entity, but wouldn't Ukraine be entitled to them? After all, it was their aircraft.
Well, I was 50% wrong and 50% correct. It was shrapnel but from a missile and not an engine disc. What a mess!
Airlines are avoiding airspace near Iran and Iraq after a passenger plane was reportedly shot down https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.businessinsider.com/ukraine-iran-plane-crash-airlines-airspace-avoid-iraq-persian-gulf-2020-1 Image Unavailable, Please Login
The SA-15 has an IFF capability and should have been able to see what the airliner was squawking. If the crew was poorly trained, however, all bets are off. No telling what ROE they were operating under during that period of high alert, either. SA-15 is a bad actor, even for fighters with ECM. A 737 has a radar cross-section of tens of meters, so would have really lit up their scopes, especially at low altitude. If our highly trained US Navy operators can mistake an airliner for a fighter-bomber, easy to believe the Iranians could, too. We lost an F/A-18 to a Patriot battery in SWA, too. System set on automatic and the fighter did not have the correct squawk set. Patriot works on a points system for speed, ECM, squawk, and ground track. Get too many points and win two Patriots. Scariest part of Desert Storm to me was coming back across our lines after a mission.
So they failed to cause any injuries with tens of Ballistic missiles ,then somehow managed to accidently shoot down an innocent airliner killing 176 of mainly their own nationals? Crazy
So now they're scrubbing the crash site before investigators arrive. Spent missile parts are clearly identifiable. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10711754/iran-plane-crash-bulldozers-debris-shot-down/
An act of self defense like that will land you in jail in any developed country I have heard of. Killing innocent people does not fit the description of self defense.
That's what they actually claimed. Just pointing out the irony. Also, the talking heads are giving Iran way too much credit as a fighting force, IMO.
It makes for more news and more viewers. And military interviewees on the news networks will always say the same. That's how you maintain and increase funding/budget to your military department. If they say there is no real threat out there then you can't justify a budget increase request.
Yep. Their military is saying it was unintentional. They thought it was a hostile target turning toward a sensitive area. Also, they are saying they will prosecute those at fault and will work to make their systems better. That should make all of us feel warm and fuzzy.
Here link with their official twitter statement https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/jasonwells/iran-accidentally-shot-down-ukrainian-jetliner?bffbuzzfeednews&utm_term=4ldqpho&fbclid=IwAR0hOy9X_j-X-mektAlqTgHBCZsGnY1ag52mK1M9-W_GU4kg4ZkP90h--yo#4ldqpho
Do not take this personally... As it's not a comment on you... But how ridiculous is it that ****TER is a place for official statements.
It's one of the fastest ways to get the word out but yea, I hear you I'd never invest in Twitter and know both the founder and current CEO but am wondering how their stock has been since trump made it his PR platform