Radars are there to scare mainly
Pontius Navigator, GlueBall : If we are looking at a situation that national air defense radars are there to mainly scare and not do the job the taxpayers paid millions for, then it makes it a risky proposition. Now, entire world (including some very bad people) are aware that if a giant B777 can get lost without a trace over south east Asia, then their KingAirs or Gulfstreams carrying drugs, weapons etc. can get away with it as well . Two, it displays a lack of seriousness, as the Indian guy in the article said "nothing much happens at night" which made me sit up. The radars need to be constantly monitored by atleast a pair of eyes and incursions by aircraft flying incognito need to be checked out. If Malaysia had scrambled some rusty F16s at a big plane flying around with no identification, not only millions spent on this massive search could have been saved but who knows, those 239 souls might still be with us.