Russia Landed One Of Its Last A-50U Radar Planes Within Range of Ukraine's Drones
There might be four flyable A-50Us left
One of Russia’s few Beriev A-50U radar planes has made a rare appearance near the front line of Russia’s 43-month wider war on Ukraine.
It’s a risky move by the Russians. Capable of detecting Ukrainian aircraft, drones and missiles from hundreds of kilometers away, the A-50Us are priceless eyes in the sky. But they’re also big fat targets in the air—and when they’re on the ground.
For the Russians, the deployment of one of potentially four surviving A-50Us is an opportunity to bolster their air defenses in southern Ukraine and southern Russia—and perhaps blunt the impact of Ukraine’s escalating campaign of drone and missile strikes.
For the Ukrainians, the deployment may be a chance to take out yet another A-50U—and further blind Russian air defenses. That would make it even easier for Ukrainian drones and missiles to get through to southern Russia and occupied Crimea.
AviVector, which scrutinizes satellite imagery of Russian air bases, was among the first independent observers to notice the four-engine A-50U parked at Taganrog air base—in southern Russia 170 km from the front line—on Sept. 28.
One operational A-50U with the serial number RF-94268 and nose number Red 41 “arrived at the base between Sept. 24 and 28, likely for maintenance or repair,” AviVector noted. There’s a Beriev production facility at the Taganrog base.
But the base is well within range of most of Ukraine’s one-way attack drones and air- and ground-launched cruise missiles. Indeed, the Ukrainians have already targeted Taganrog several times, apparently aiming for the Beriev facility and any warplanes parked nearby.
That’s why the analysts at AviVector were surprised to spot the A-50U at the vulnerable base. “This is the first time such a valuable aircraft for Russia has been based so close to the front line, within the reach of most Ukrainian UAVs.”
Read the rest at Euromaidan Press.
Take it out. Today!