The pro-Kremlin “Russian Weapons,” “Novomoskovsk News,” and “Voevoda Broadcasts” milbloggers reported that at least one of the Russian Aerospace Forces remaining six A-50U Beriev (NATO: Mainstay) airborne early warning and control aircraft (AEW&C) had resumed operations targeted on Ukraine in early March.
These reports were also apparently confirmed by Ukraine’s Air Force, which had spotted the aircraft over the western Russian Orlovska region close to the border with Ukraine’s Sumy region. According to the milbloggers the aircraft could have been identified by air-to-air electronic systems carried on the Mirage-2000 and F-16 fighter aircraft supplied to Ukraine by its Western allies.
Based on the Ilyushin IL-76MD, the A-50U is a large aircraft with a wingspan of 50.5 meters (167 feet), a length of 48.3 meters (159 feet), a height of 14.80 meters (48.8 feet), with a fuselage diameter of 4.80 meters (15.8 feet). It has a nominal takeoff weight of 190,000 kilograms (418,000 pounds) and a fuel capacity of 109,480 liters (29,000 gallons) giving it an operational range of 7,500 kilometers (4,700 miles) and a service ceiling of 12,000 meters (39,600 feet) at a maximum cruising speed is 800 kph (500 mph). The crew consists of five flight personnel and up to ten radar system operators.
It is not yet clear whether the A-50U seen a week or so ago is just a single aircraft or the first of multiple planes that would operate on a rotational basis. However, it was notable that the reappearance of the surveillance aircraft occurred only a couple of days after US President Donald Trump had announced the temporary suspension of intelligence sharing with Ukraine on March 5, which would have undoubtedly positively identified the A-50’s presence.
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In any event, the A-50U was taking no chances and was operating at more than 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the front line which is beyond the currently acknowledged range of Ukrainian surface-to-air missile (SAM) capability.
The absence of the AEW&C aircraft and its current stand-off positioning is a result of Russia having lost as many as three high-value A-50s since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The first confirmed loss occurred on Jan. 14, 2024, when, according to Ukraine’s Air Force Commander, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, an A-50U was shot down over the Sea of Azov by a US-supplied Patriot MIM-104C missile.
In the following month, a second A-50 was reportedly downed on Feb. 23 over Krasnodar Krai, more than 190 kilometers (120 miles) from the nearest known Ukrainian frontline position, allegedly using a Soviet-era S-200 (NATO: SA5 Gammon) SAM.
On March 9, 2024, almost 50 Ukrainian UAVs attacked the Russian city of Taganrog with strikes aimed in particular at the Beriev Aviation Science and Technology Complex where the A-50s and other aircraft were stored for repair and maintenance. Satellite imagery suggested that an aircraft workshop containing one of the aircraft was badly damaged.
According to Ukraine’s military intelligence chief, Kyrylo Budanov, only six operational A-50s remained from the 40 or so that had entered service between 1978 and 1992.
The A-50U using the multi-mode Shmel-M dorsal radar system can detect air targets and missile launch signatures such as from the US ATACMS, out to a range of more than 600 kilometers (375 miles) and ground targets at 300 kilometers (185 miles).
Its appearance apparently surveilling the Ukrainian Sumy and adjacent Russian Kursk and Belgorod regions suggests an increased requirement for electronic intelligence gathering by the Russian forces in those areas which could presage an attempt to cross into Ukraine from that direction.
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