Missile firm to hold rival MH17 briefing

The Russian manufacturer of the missile system blamed for shooting down flight MH17 said Friday it would unveil the "real reasons" for the disaster on the same day Dutch investigators present their final report on the tragedy.

Almaz-Antey, the maker of the BUK surface-to-air system that the West and Kiev believe downed MH17, said it would present its version of events at a news conference on Tuesday after holding an "experiment" that entailed detonating a missile next to a plane.

The company will air its claims on the same day that Dutch investigators issue their report following a 15-month probe. All 298 people onboard were killed when the Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 was downed over east Ukraine on July 17 last year.

Almaz-Antey said it would "present the results of a full-scale experiment, a real simulation of an encounter between a BUK-type missile and a passenger plane."

The test "will help understand the real causes of the catastrophe," it said.

Ukraine and many in the West have accused rebels of blowing the airliner out of the sky with a BUK missile supplied from Russia.
 AFP
globaltimes.cn
9/10/15