Me? I’m guessing it’s intended to be a dam buster, a smaller aircraft would do just fine for any ordinary structure. Perhaps a massive shaped charge under the flight deck to bore a deep hole in the face, with an even more massive main charge of some relatively insensitive explosive to be rammed into that hole before detonation.
Compare to an M180, only writ LARGE...
OK, now think the Three Gorges Dam.
More or less along a normal Malaysia Airlines route, they wouldn’t even need to repaint more than maybe the tail number.
Either eliminate a scheduled Malaysia Airlines flight en-route and slip into its scheduled and expected flight path, squawking its expected number or hack the system and tell the Chinese to expect an extra flight, perhaps a “charter” that day.
How much damage would a hole in the Three Gorges Dam do downstream, hmmm?
I just can’t imagine them caring that much about the US, since we’re pretty powerless and they seem to be angrier at Russia and China right now.
However, it’s true that little groups of Middle Easterners have been stopped all over the US while scoping out dams...and IIRC, after 9/11, it appeared that some of that group of terrorists had been looking at dams.
I’m wondering if there is any connection with that recent power station attack in California. I wonder if there’s something here they could plow into with this plane that would take out our electrical or communications grid.
To me, this seems like a much more technical, military and high-tech hijacking than 9/11. So maybe they’re not after a big statement, but after a major devastating effect.
Just some thoughts.