Malaysian airlines 777 missing

[Mace2004]

That's an interesting system, it looks like their approach is similar to the idea of placing a large number of cheap short-range picket ships along the entire coast rather than building a few expensive large-volume air search facilities like we tend to use.  This would give them lots of overlapping coverage but it also seems to imply that they're more focused on a narrow band of activity along the coastline rather than long-range detection.  The large square panes are very similar to our SPS-48 3-D air search radar which came out in the 60's but is quite a bit smaller.  The small "windows" on top of the mast are probably ESM antennas and the ball is obviously electro-optical with probably both visual and IR sensors.  While cheaper to build I bet this system is expensive as all getout to maintain.

I'm surprised at the extent of their coastal radars but do you have a legend for that chart?  The reason I ask is that our 48 had a range greater than 200NM while the chart seems to show coverage only out to about 50 or 60 miles (unless I'm reading it wrong).  Given it's smaller size the Indian radar range would probably be commensurately smaller than the 48 but 50-60 miles seems a bit short.  The range of electro-optical sensors would be much much shorter than the radar given that they're located at sea-level.  Visible moisture and humidity has a very large affect on EO sensors so it's unlikely they can see much farther than 20-30 miles on a good day.  We had an IR system on the F-14D which could see much further but only up at high altitude with low moisture.

Of course, assuming these systems are up and operating 24 hours a day (a questionable proposition given the comments of the Indian Admiral in the Daily Mail article) the Bay of Bengal is over 700 miles across in its middle and, if the green area is the full extent of their coverage, they would have no chance of detecting the airliner unless it crossed directly into Indian airspace.  Avoiding the Indian sensors would be no challenge and as simple as flying from the Strait of Malacca to Bangladesh.

[BluBerry]

[GScholz]

I'm surprised at the extent of their coastal radars but do you have a legend for that chart?  The reason I ask is that our 48 had a range greater than 200NM while the chart seems to show coverage only out to about 50 or 60 miles (unless I'm reading it wrong).  Given it's smaller size the Indian radar range would probably be commensurately smaller than the 48 but 50-60 miles seems a bit short.  The range of electro-optical sensors would be much much shorter than the radar given that they're located at sea-level.  Visible moisture and humidity has a very large affect on EO sensors so it's unlikely they can see much farther than 20-30 miles on a good day.  We had an IR system on the F-14D which could see much further but only up at high altitude with low moisture.

Those are coastal surveillance units, and I'm not sure the range is for the radars, but perhaps only for the optics they are adding to their existing radar infrastructure. I just used google images to find a map of Indian radar networks. There is no caption.

[LCADolby]

(Image removed from quote.)

I had to giggle... I'm soo going to hell now.

[GScholz]

To me it looks like a Russian MR-760 Fregat clone with two E and H band antennae. India license-produce a lot of Russian hardware. It has a reported range of up to 250 km against a fighter sized target.

Here's one on a Udaloy destroyer.

[rpm]

(Image removed from quote.)

So where's the 777-200 that's missing? Fail.

[BluBerry]

So where's the 777-200 that's missing? Fail.

The real fail is you nit picking it. I didn't make the image. 

[LCADolby]

YES! Saved from Hell by technicality! HURRAH!

 

[BluBerry]

YES! Saved from Hell by technicality! HURRAH!

 

 

[Megalodon]

PETALING JAYA: A British newspaper published a report today that evidence of a plot by Malaysian religious extremists to hijack a passenger jet in a 9/11-style attack is being investigated in connection with the disappearance of MH370.

The Telegraph quoted a convicted al-Qaeda member as telling a court in London last week that four to five Malaysian men had been planning to take control of a plane, using a bomb hidden in a shoe to blow open the cockpit door.

It said security experts had said the evidence from Saajid Badat, a British-born Muslim from Gloucester, was
"credible".

The Telegraph quoted him as saying that he had met the Malaysian jihadists – one of whom was a pilot – in Afghanistan and given them a shoe bomb to use to take control of an aircraft.

In evidence in a court case last Tuesday, Saajid was quoted as saying that he had been instructed at a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan to give a shoe bomb to the Malaysians.

Giving evidence at the trial in New York of Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, Osama bin Laden's son-in-law, Saajid said: "I gave one of my shoes to the Malaysians. I think it was to access the cockpit."

http://www.thesundaily.my/news/987389

[rpm]

634 runways in range of MH370

[Blinder]

(Image removed from quote.)

Dude. That is about as funny as a Westinghouse J40 in a Demon. 

[rpm]

I didn't make the image.

No kidding. Otherwise I would have pointed out the error 2 days earlier when I saw it the first time.

[Megalodon]

The simulator

[Megalodon]

Malaysia recruits Witch Doctors to find missing Boeing passenger jet
Ibrahim Mat Zin, famous shaman called ‘king of the witch doctors’ performs ritual at Kuala Lumpur International Airport. Reports say he was invited by government officials.

Using props including coconuts, Malaysian witch doctor Ibrahim Mat Zin, center, chants and prays for guidance in finding Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. The display at Kuala Lumpur International Airport made the country look ‘stupid,’ one politician told parliament

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/malaysia-recruits-witch-doctors-find-missing-passenger-jet-article-1.1720770