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"  A piece of debris of the fuselage at the crash site of the Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17. Credit: AFP/Getty Images. When anti-aircraft missiles fly, it&amp;#039;s a good idea to check in with Matt Schroeder, a weapons proliferation expert with the Federation of American Scientists. We spoke with him in the aftermath of the shootdown of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17, in which a group of separatist rebels destroyed an airplane flying at an altitude of more than 30,000 feet. &amp;quot;I am hoping that the events in Ukraine is a low-water mark in the recent history of conventional weapons proliferation, rather than the advent of a new, darker era,&amp;quot; Schroeder says. The Good News Advanced surface-to-air missiles that can hit airliners at that kind of altitude are not commonly found in the hands of anyone but an official government military. &amp;quot;I know of no other case where a non-state group has successfully used this system,&amp;quot; Schroeder says. &amp;quot;This is not surprising given that they are few in number, difficult, and expensive to acquire and are hard to smuggle and conceal.&amp;quot; Even an irresponsible regime can be held accountable if they use these weapons on civilian targets, and their troops are better trained and more apt to make sure they are not shooting something transmitting a civilian transponder code. The Bad News Simple-to-use and easy- to-conceal shoulder-fired missiles are spreading at an alarming rate in the Ukraine and in the Middle East. Mosul, Iraq, for instance, has become the source of modern weapons for Islamic rebels affiliated with al Qaida. For years, Russia and the United States led an effort to curb the spread of these Man Portable Air Defense Systems (MANPADS), but recent wars recent wars have spread these weapons outside of anyone&amp;#039;s control. And that could mean they will appear in the hands of black marketeers, insurgents, or terrorists. &amp;quot;The good work accomplished through these efforts is being undermined by the proliferation of MANPADS in Syria and Ukraine,&amp;quot; Schroeder says. &amp;quot;Once outside of government control, it can take years or decades to recover MANPADS, during which they pose a potential threat to commercial aviation and military aircraft.&amp;quot; "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a10942/mh17-the-good-news-and-bad-news-about-anti-aircraft-missiles-17024996/>