Of Course Russia Has a Nonsensical Explanation For MH 17
By Patrick Brennan
“The problem is that, according to its manufacturer, it’s impossible that the Ukrainian jet, a Sukhoi Su-25, known as a “Frogfoot” in NATO parlance, could have been “at the same level as” the Malaysia Airlines flight. The Malaysian flight was flying at 33,000 feet, while the Su-25 has a service ceiling of about 23,000 feet — when it doesn’t have any weapons loaded. It’s not an interceptor; it’s a ground-attack aircraft. (Conveniently, the Russian official made up a service ceiling for the Su-25 that’s precisely equal to the altitude of MH 17.)
The Su-25 can, as the Russians note, carry air-to-air missiles with a range of more than 10 kilometers, making it physically possible, in theory, for one to have shot down the airliner, but it would have to do so from 10,000 feet — 3 kilometers — below the 777. Moreover, the Su-25 is not exactly a sprinter — its maximum airspeed is just barely more than the 777’s cruising speed. (In part because it can’t fly as high as the 777.) Lastly, bizarrely, as the Aviationist points out, who knows what’s going on with Russian graphics but the graphic above uses a 707 to depict a 777 and a retired American electronic-warfare plane (an EF-111) to depict the much-smaller Su-25..
Good article, the Interpreter reported on that the other day, though not with that much detail. The Russkies, apparently, with IPs from Moscow, were “upgrading” the Su-25... at least on wikipedia.