Malaysian Air flight shot down over Ukraine with 295 aboard.

[McShark]

How do the missiles do that?

Radar keeps track of target direction and speed. Blow up in front as cockpits are at the front of the plane.

Like taking lead in a WW II fighter, just a little out front.

[GScholz]

By the mid-'70s with more powerful computers and more accurate sensors, more intelligent pro-nav guidance became feasible. With active radar homing A2A missiles got the ability to attack specific parts of an aircraft since the closer the missile got to the target the more accurate the radar becomes. If I'm not mistaken the AMRAAM was the first A2A missile programmed to lead the target slightly thus hitting the cockpit area rather than the center fuselage, increasing kill probability against bombers and large fighters like the Su-27. The latest generation of missiles with IR or radar imaging capability such as the Israeli Python-5 are even programmable in flight allowing the pilot to choose what part of the target aircraft the missile should try to hit.

[nrshida]

Shame they couldn't be bothered to program something in to recognize civilian airliners really isn't it?

[GScholz]

If they only had one launcher vehicle and not the entire system with search radar they quite possibly did not have the ability to interrogate the target. Also the skill level of the operators is in question.

[nrshida]

Probably adding such a system to the missile itself is becoming an increasingly high priority wouldn't you agree?

[GScholz]

Afraid not. Then any military jet could just squawk as a civilian plane to defeat the missile. In any case the 9M317 missile doesn't make decisions on its own. The radar returns from the missile's seeker is relayed to the launch vehicle via data link where computers analyze the information and decides what the missile needs to do, and then sends command signals back to the missile. Everything "intelligent" is done on the ground, not by the missile itself.

[nrshida]

Afraid not. Then any military jet could just squawk as a civilian plane to defeat the missile. In any case the 9M317 missile doesn't make decisions on its own. The radar returns from the missile's seeker is relayed to the launch vehicle via data link where computers analyze the information and decides what the missile needs to do, and then sends command signals back to the missile. Everything "intelligent" is done on the ground, not by the missile itself.

Obvously the method would have to be secure.

[GScholz]

No such thing I'm afraid. Blue-on-blue happens, and always will. To expect people in a war situation to not shoot unless they have a positive ID on the target is naive and do-gooder thinking. In a war zone you either fight or get the hell out of the way. If you can't get out of the way you'd better take cover. IFF - Identify Friend or Foe is really a misnomer since it can't really identify a foe. It should be IFU - Identify Friend or Unknown. And nobody's going to give their IFF codes to civilian airlines.

[nrshida]

No such thing I'm afraid. Blue-on-blue happens, and always will. To expect people in a war situation to not shoot unless they have a positive ID on the target is naive and do-gooder thinking. In a war zone you either fight or get the hell out of the way. If you can't get out of the way you'd better take cover. IFF - Identify Friend or Foe is really a misnomer since it can't really identify a foe. It should be IFU - Identify Friend or Unknown. And nobody's going to give their IFF codes to civilian airlines.

You say do-gooder like it's a bad thing. 

It wouldn't be beyond the reach of present technology to have a missile, most especially a SAM, recognize a civilian airliner. Assuming the system could not be cracked (obviously no customer would buy such a thing and no nation manufacture it) you don't think this would be a good idea?

I wonder what state the world would be in this very week if this airliner had contained mostly American passengers.

[nrshida]

It's quite a trivial problem actually to have an 'intelligent' missile ignore or rather move away from a civilian airliner and still have its behaviour unimpeded against military aircraft. Both the technology and the infrastructure is essentially there already.

Of course the want has to be there too.

[Skuzzy]

nrshida, it is also quite easy to dress a military plane in civilian clothes and have it pass for that.  Just saying.

No matter what system you come up with, there will always be those who can find a way around it.

Civilian aircraft have no business flying anywhere near a war zone.

[The Fugitive]

It's quite a trivial problem actually to have an 'intelligent' missile ignore or rather move away from a civilian airliner and still have its behaviour unimpeded against military aircraft. Both the technology and the infrastructure is essentially there already.

Of course the want has to be there too.

You must live in a very nieve world. What one person can build to ID aircraft as airliner or military another can cracked and use it to fly military aircraft past Sam sites.

In this case We will never know for sure, it looks like poor training. Someone saw a blip and hit a button without checking on what the blip was.

[GScholz]

What if the airliner is is heading for an abrupt landing in Manhattan, like those 13 years ago? There is no such thing as a "civilian aircraft". You can use a plane for civilian purposes, but you can also use the same plane for military purposes. Cargo plane or bomber depends only on what you're carrying. Same with airliner or troop carrier. Private light aircraft or artillery spotter? Etc.

When I deployed to Bosnia 20 years ago I flew in a Bulgarian Airlines Tu-154, chartered by the UN. We dodged Bosnian-Serb AAA in a steep dive into Split, Croatia.

[nrshida]

nrshida, it is also quite easy to dress a military plane in civilian clothes and have it pass for that.  Just saying.

No matter what system you come up with, there will always be those who can find a way around it.

There are already systems currently in widespread use which cannot be cracked. No one has or can find a way around those. Not in good time anyway  

Civilian aircraft have no business flying anywhere near a war zone.

I agree, I think however they were not aware of this particular war zone having the altitude it apparently did. But I agree this is the only way to be sure.

You must live in a very nieve world. What one person can build to ID aircraft as airliner or military another can cracked and use it to fly military aircraft past Sam sites.

I love the way people can poo poo an idea with total confidence without knowing what it is or the background of the person suggesting it. So jaded are you that you can't imagine attempting to improve the world is worth the effort?

What if the airliner is is heading for an abrupt landing in Manhattan, like those 13 years ago? There is no such thing as a "civilian aircraft". You can use a plane for civilian purposes, but you can also use the same plane for military purposes. Cargo plane or bomber depends only on what you're carrying. Same with airliner or troop carrier. Private light aircraft or artillery spotter? Etc.

When I deployed to Bosnia 20 years ago I flew in a Bulgarian Airlines Tu-154, chartered by the UN. We dodged Bosnian-Serb AAA in a steep dive into Split, Croatia.

(Image removed from quote.)

13 years has it really been so long? Aren't those really a separate set of problems which could / should have been solved before the aircraft took off? Wow. I'm happy you survived your triple A incident. Did the oxygen masks deploy and the kiss your arse goodbye warning light come on?   
 

[GScholz]

Heheh no    I don't think there was any AAA actually being fired at us. It was just standard procedure to dodge and dive in that area because it was not safe to fly the normal approach pattern to Split airport. I had a cold so my sinuses popped loudly, that's about it.