Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Archives

ATIcourses instructor John Parnell teaches the following courses: Aegis Combat System Engineering Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Below are his thoughts on recent shoot down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukrane. The one that comes to mind is an Army AD battery called HAWK. It performs the same function, and consists of a Radar, Command and Control, and Weapon System. So, the sequence of weapon system functions is what makes it sophisticated. John W. Parnell served as Chief Architect for Aegis Missile Defense, Naval Air Defense, and Intelligence & Instrumentation Radar System Synthesis and Analysis for Lockheed Martin at their Moorestown, NJ facility. He gained expertise in Aegis BMD Weapon System Engineering as Technical Lead on both the Navy Area Wide and the Aegis LEAP Intercept (ALI) Programs. His 35+ years- experience with Lockheed Martin includes: technical direction, system definition and design of multi-platform, multi-function weapon systems; system development of radar, missile fire control, BMC3, ECCM, & CEC. Mr. Parnell served on the MDA National Team from 2002-2007. Contact this instructor

Dr. Menachem Levitas teaches the following ATI courses:

Radar Systems Design & Engineering course

Advanced Developments in Radar course

Radar 101 – Fundamentals of Radar course

Radar 201 – Advances in Modern Radar course

Fundamentals of Radar Technology course

Principles Of Modern Radar course

Principles of Naval Weapons course

Here are his thoughts on the mystery in the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 shoot down. Without being too technical, here are a number of comments on who may have fired the missile – the Ukrainian government or the rebels – which I have not seen discussed in the media: (a) The Ukrainian government knew which aircraft it was since it’s FAA equivalent, tasked with air traffic control, has been tracking it continually by radar and receiving its ID, origin, and destination information through its IFF; (b) The rebels could not know it since they do not have these resources, nor the knowhow and responsibility. (Whatever radar the rebels were using – probably just the radar that comes with the weapon system – they evidently did not have IFF communications capabilities, nor radar discrimination capabilities which is not yet an established technology). Clearly this evidence alone points to high likelihood that the aircraft was downed by the rebels. Dr. Menachem Levitas received his BS, maxima cum laude, from the University of Portland and his Ph.D. from the University of Virginia in 1975, both in physics. He has forty two years experience in science and engineering, thirty four of which in radar systems analysis, design, development, and testing for the Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and FAA. His experience encompasses many ground based, shipboard, and airborne radar systems. He has been technical lead on many radar efforts including Government source selection teams. He is the author of multiple radar based innovations and is a recipient of the Aegis Excellence Award for his contribution toward the AN/SPY-1 high range resolution (HRR) development. For many years, prior to his retirement in 2011, he had been the chief scientist of Technology Service Corporation / Washington. He continues to provide radar technical support under consulting agreements.

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Tag: Malaysian Airlines Flight 17

More Thoughts on the Mystery in the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Shoot Down

Thoughts on the Mystery in the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 Shoot Down