MEDIA RELEASE: 13 January 2020 – R0007
Iran was attempting to show off the capabilities of its missile program last week, when things went terribly wrong.
Michael Armstrong, Associate Professor of Operations Research in Brock’s Goodman School of Business, recently published a piece in The Conversation about two missile strikes conducted by Iran, as well as the technology available to deter missile launches.
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) recently demonstrated its sophisticated missile technology by attacking U.S. military bases in Iraq. But later the same day, its missiles unintentionally destroyed an airliner in Iran, killing 176 civilians, including 57 Canadians,” says Armstrong, who uses mathematical models to study missile combat at sea and short-range rocket defenses on land.
“That combined success and blunder suggest Iran’s military and government ‘human systems’ have not kept up with the weapon technology they wield.”
Armstrong says it also illustrates how missile threats pose challenges to other countries worldwide.
“You could call the incident human error or recklessness and incompetence,” he says. “Either way, it indicates problems with organizational co-ordination and communication, rather than the technology itself.”
Associate Professor Michael Armstrong is available for interview requests.
For more information or for assistance arranging interviews:
* Dan Dakin, Manager Communications and Media Relations, Brock University ddakin@brocku.ca, 905-688-5550 x5353 or 905-347-1970
Brock University Marketing and Communications has a full-service studio where we can provide high definition video and broadcast-quality audio.
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