Tor system suspected of downing plane is very efficient
January 10, 2020 3:55PM AKST
The partner of Julia Sologub, a member of the flight crew of the Ukrainian 737-800 plane that crashed on the outskirts of Tehran, reacts as he holds a portrait of her at a memorial inside Borispil international airport outside in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 10, 2020. Ukraine’s president is calling on other countries to provide any information they have about the fatal crash of a Ukrainian airliner in Iran. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s statement, reported Thursday on his office’s Facebook page, came after U.S. officials said it was “highly likely” that the plane was downed by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
MOSCOW (AP) – U.S. officials believe the Ukrainian jetliner that crashed in Tehran this week hours after Iran launched a series of strikes at air bases in Iraq may have been brought down by a Russian Tor system. The Tor short-range air defense system, code-named the SA-15 by NATO, was designed during Soviet times to shoot down aircraft and precision guided weapons. The missile explodes near a target, taking it down with shrapnel that devastates engines, fuel tanks and other vital components. The Tor system is highly efficient, reportedly scoring up to 100 percent of hits during tests.
