Flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK 9M38 missile 41410152

Defence & Security News - Flight MH17
 
Flight MH17 was shot down by a Russian-made BUK 9M38 missile
In July 2014, flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed over the Ukraine. Today, the Dutch Safety Board has issued its report on what happened. At a press conference, the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, Tjibbe Joustra, has explained that “it was definitely a BUK 9M38 missile that hit flight MH17,” writes the BBC.
     
In July 2014, flight MH17 from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed over the Ukraine. Today, the Dutch Safety Board has issued its report on what happened. At a press conference, the chairman of the Dutch Safety Board, Tjibbe Joustra, has explained that “it was definitely a BUK missile that hit flight MH17,” writes the BBC. The reconstructed wreckage of MH17
     

The Boeing 777 was heading from Amsterdam to Malaysia when it was shot down on July 17, 2014, over Ukrainian territory controlled by pro-Russian separatists. All 298 people aboard the aircraft died in the crash.

The missile is said to have hit the front section of the plane from the left, and their analysis suggests that the missile was launched from “somewhere in an area of 320 sq km in Eastern Ukraine.” Dutch investigators said the Russian-made BUK rocket exploded just inches from the cockpit, killing the pilots and breaking off the front of the plane.

Passengers on flight MH17 may have been conscious for up to a minute and a half as the jet plunged to Earth after being hit by the missile, an official report found.

The missile's impact was instantly fatal only to the three crew members in the flight deck of Malaysia Airlines jet, the Dutch Safety Board report said. The blast ejected hundreds of pieces of shrapnel into the plane with “tremendous force”, said the Dutch safety board report.

The missile explosion also caused a 'deafening sound wave' and the airplane's sudden deceleration, then speeding up as it fell to Earth, may have 'caused dizziness, nausea and loss of consciousness'.

The Dutch report suggests attempts were made to cover up the causes of the disaster, including a bungled autopsy on the body of the captain in which metal fragments from a Buk missile were deliberately removed.

Among the fragments of missile shrapnel examined, two were in the shape of a bow tie, which the Dutch board found to be characteristic of a particular type of Buk missile warhead. However, the Russian manufacturer had earlier denied that any such fragments were found, and insisted an older Buk model was used, one that was no longer in service in the Russian armed forces.
     
     

The BUK-M1 (NATO code: SA-11 Gadfly) missile system is a self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile systems developed by the Russian defence industry.

The SA-11 Gadfly is intended to defeat tactical and strategic aircraft, cruise missiles, helicopters and other aerodynamics targets throughout the entire range of their combat employment in severe ECM environment, as well as Lance-type tactical ballistic missile, HARM-type antiradar missiles and other airborne and ground-based high precision weapons and to engage waterborne and radio-contrast ground targets.

The first version of BUK-M1 adopted into service carried the GRAU designation 9K37 and was identified in the west with the NATO reporting name "SA-11 Gadfly". Since its initial introduction into service the BUK-M1 missile system has been continually upgraded and refined with the latest incarnation carrying the designation 9K37M2 "BUK-M2".

SA-11 Gadfly battery requires 5 minutes to set up before it is ready for engagement and can be ready for transit again in 5 minutes. The reaction time of the battery from target tracking to missile launch is around 22 seconds.