Article
A Malaysia Airlines flight en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, was downed over a warzone in eastern Ukraine (July 17).Ukrainian government officials said a surface-to-air missile may have taken down the airplane.
Flight MH17 crashed in the region of Donetsk, a pro-Russian rebel stronghold, killing all 298 people aboard, reported Anton Gerashchenko, an advisor to Ukraine's interior minister. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a statement he wasn't ruling out the possibility that the plane was shot down, and the United States has since concluded the airplane was shot down, a senior U.S. official told CNN.
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian rebels have been embroiled in conflict since the Ukrainian Revolution in February and subsequent struggle for control of the Crimean Peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in March. Though not part of Crimea, Donetsk is a self-proclaimed unrecognized state.
A surface-to-air missile is a type of warhead launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. Pro-Russian rebels reportedly shot down a Ukrainian cargo plane and a fighter jet earlier this week using such missiles, according to CBS News.
There are three classes of surface-to-air missiles: heavy, fixed long-range systems; medium-range systems mounted on vehicles; and short-range, shoulder-launched systems.
The type that may have been used to shoot down the Malaysia Airlines flight is a Buk missile, an old Soviet-era, self-propelled, medium-range surface-to-air missile. The weapons system, first introduced in 1979, is designed to target cruise missiles, fixed and rotary wing aircraft, or smartbombs. Such medium-range, surface-to-air missile systems are designed for minimal setup time.
The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying at a normal cruising altitude of about 33,000 feet (10,000 meters) when it disappeared from radar, the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported. This is well within the range of a Buk launcher, which can fire missiles up to an altitude of 72,000 feet (22,000 m).
Buk missiles track their targets using semi-active radar homing, in which the missile serves as a passive detector of radar signals reflected off the target from a separate transmitter. Without the added weight of onboard radar transmitters, these missiles can be launched over greater distances.
But a plane flying at cruising altitude would likely be "very difficult" to mistake for a military plane, Mary Schiavo, an aviation expert and former inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation, told CNN. However, "the plane could have been 'squawking' the wrong code," or an errant heat-seeking missile could have shot the plane down, she said.
Most surface-to-air missile systems are equipped with identification friend-or-foe (IFF) systems that are designed to relay critical information about a target, such as its range and bearing, before a weapon is launched.
Malaysia Airlines, which made headlines in March when a different airplane went missing over the Indian Ocean, tweeted that it lost contact with Flight MH17, and last made contact with the Boeing 777 plane over Ukrainian airspace.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with those on board the Malaysia Airlines airplane lost over Ukrainian airspace, as well as their families and loved ones," officials at American aerospace giant Boeing said in a statement. "Boeing stands ready to provide whatever assistance is requested by authorities."
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About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
