The Russian army receives a significant boost: A new plane, valued at 350 million dollars, entered its endowment
The Russian Air Force has received a new A-50U early warning and control aircraft, marking the beginning of Moscow's efforts to replace losses suffered following Ukrainian attacks on these extremely expensive spy planes, Polish publication Onet reported on Tuesday.
Thus, another refurbished and modernized A-50U aircraft has been delivered to the Russian armed forces – according to Fighterbomber, an account managed by a person well-informed about Russian military aviation, who has repeatedly provided verified information about its operations.
The A-50U is the equivalent of NATO's AWACS (Airborne Early Warning and Air Control) aircraft.
This flying radar, valued at about 300-350 million dollars, is used for the detection of cruise missiles, coordination of air operations and air defense systems. It serves as the “nervous system” of the Kremlin's air force, monitoring a radius of 600 kilometers and tracking up to 150 air targets simultaneously.
The Russian military began the invasion of Ukraine with about ten such aircraft, but as a result of Ukrainian attacks, it lost at least two of them, and another three were damaged. Including the aforementioned model, Russian forces can currently operate between five and eight A-50 aircraft.
Before the invasion started in 2022, Russia planned to replace the A-50 aircraft with a new version – A-100. However, due to Western sanctions, the Kremlin was able to complete the construction of only one such aircraft.
The mere fact that one more A-50U aircraft entered the service of the Russian military seems to represent an important success, which will strengthen the capabilities of the Russian Air Force, the cited publication notes. The Russian army will thus be able to effectively rotate these extremely important warning and espionage aircraft and use them better to coordinate military operations against Ukraine, Onet writes.
