https://www.rbc.ua/rus/news/takih-rosiyi-vsogo-9-ale-vsi-robochi-ekspert-1705316790.html
There are only 9 such in Russia, but not all of them are working. The expert explained the importance of destroying the A-50
KYIV, MONDAY, JANUARY 15, 2024, 1:06 P.M
UAINRU
Photo: Ukraine shot down an expensive and important A-50 reconnaissance aircraft for the Russian Federation (wikipedia.org)
AUTHOR:
MARIA KUCHERYAVETS
EXPERT:
OLEKSANDR KOVALENKO
Soldiers of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces managed to destroy the Russian A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft, which is capable of conducting reconnaissance and targeting targets for strikes. In total, the aggressor country may have 9 A-50 units, but not all of them are combat-capable.
Oleksandr Kovalenko , a military-political expert of the "Information Resistance" group, told in detail why the destruction of the A-50 is important and what makes this operation unique .
During the preparation of the material, we used: data from our own sources in the Defense Forces, an exclusive expert comment, the Telegram channel of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny, and messages from the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security.
What kind of plane is this and how many of them does Russia have
A-50 is a long-range radar surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft. As the expert explained, such planes are used to carry out reconnaissance activities in the airspace. Also, the A-50 is used for targeting for tactical aviation and can even be used to improve the characteristics of air defense capabilities, increasing the ability to target, fix, observe, and destroy targets at a distance.
"There are only 9 such planes in Russia.
But 3 of them are actually inoperable : one of them is undergoing modernization which has not yet been fully completed, the others are in fact inoperable because they cannot be repaired," Kovalenko told the publication.
Thus, as the expert emphasizes, there are 6 such combat-capable aircraft in Russia, but even they have questions.
"Because one of the A-50 aircraft was hit by a drone in Belarus, it was evacuated from Belarus. At that time, the fuselage of the aircraft was not directly affected, namely its Bumblebee reconnaissance system. And today, Russia is unlikely to have the opportunity to quickly restore such complex systems. And in principle, the information that it was out of repair has not yet been received," Kovalenko reminds and adds that, mostly in the rotation format, a maximum of 5 A-50 aircraft were recorded in the airspace.
Note. In February 2023, it became known about the damage to the A-50 aircraft by drones at the airfield in Machulyshchy in Belarus. Later, he flew to Taganrog for repairs.
How important is the destruction of the A-50
The expert explains that, in general, Russia cannot currently produce such aircraft.
"It is very expensive in itself,
its price is almost 400 million dollars. But taking into account the fact that A-50s are not produced now and each of them is unique, they make this aircraft even more expensive for Russians," Kovalenko emphasizes.
According to him, such a loss for the Russian Federation means that it has significantly fewer opportunities to conduct intelligence activities in the airspace of Ukraine.
"Not only will they have less information about the presence of Ukrainian tactical aircraft and not only in the airspace, but also they will not be able to reorient their tactical aircraft and air defense equipment," says Kovalenko.
The expert calls the destruction of the A-50 a sufficiently painful, serious, expensive and reputational loss for the aggressor country.
"Because
the IL-22 was damaged together with the A-50. And in fact, this is a unique case in the world history of wars and conflicts, when two aircraft of this level and such functionality are destroyed or damaged at the same time. This is a unique case. Never before in history it wasn't," Kovalenko emphasizes.
The second loss for Russia
According to the Center for Strategic Communications and Information Security, this is currently the second loss or damage of an A-50. As we have already indicated above, such a plane was disabled by Belarusian partisans at the airfield in Machulyshchy.
At the same time, such a plane was shot down yesterday. In particular, expert Kovalenko, in a conversation with the publication, also agreed that so far there have been no cases of the downing of the Russian A-50. And so it happened for the first time.
In turn, the Center for Strategic Communications notes that the A-50 is a very complex and specific piece of equipment. And according to the Center, there are up to 20 of them in the arsenal of the Russian Federation.
They also drew attention to the fact that Il-22M11 is a protected air control post that operated together with A-50 during enemy air attacks against Ukraine, this is also the second such loss by Russia during the war. Because
the first such board was shot down by fighters of the "Wagner" PMK during the rebellion of Yevgeny Prigozhin in the summer of last year.
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the destruction and disabling of these aircraft is a great success of the Defense Forces of Ukraine, which will facilitate the fight against enemy aggression in the air.
Destruction of the A-50 and Il-22: how it happened
We will remind, late in the evening of January 14,
RBC-Ukraine sources in the Defense Forces reported the downing of a Russian A-50 aircraft by the Air Force and the downing of an Il-22M11 (flight number 75106).
As the source told the publication, the A-50 was shot down immediately after it went on duty in the Kyrylivka area around 21:10-21:15 on January 14. The A-50 disappeared from radars and stopped responding to requests from tactical aviation, and later the pilot of the Su-30 PKS of the Russian Federation detected ignition and the fall of an unidentified aircraft.
The Il-22M11 aircraft was on duty in the Strilkovo area, and was eventually shot down along the coast of the Sea of Azov at around 9 p.m. on January 14. After the defeat,
as RBC-Ukraine learned from radio intercepts received from sources , the IL-22M pilot asked the airfield controller in Anapa to call an ambulance and firefighters to the runway.
Already today, information about the destruction of the Russian A-50 radar aircraft and Il-22 air control center
was confirmed by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny. He called it a perfectly planned operation in the Azov region.
In addition,
the destruction of the A-50 was also confirmed by the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Kyrylo Budanov. But he did not go into details.