Surface-to-air missiles do not carry large warheads. Instead, they rely on speed to smash into the bodies of planes and helicopters and ignite the aircraft’s fuel or render it so unstable that it crashes. Dramatic video posted to social media captures the moment a Russian surface-to-air missile system appears to fire on itself. In the footage, which has not been verified, the missile can be seen launching from the town of Alchevsk in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region on Friday morning. What can cause a missile to malfunction ?
