An A-50 aircraft (Photo: Wikipedia).
RBC Ukraine, citing an unnamed source in the Ukrainian military, reported on January 14 that Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian A-50 military aircraft over the Sea of Azov. Another Russian military aircraft, the Il-22M, was also reportedly attacked.
The source said that the A-50 aircraft was shot down shortly after it was deployed on a mission in the Kyrylivka area of Zaporizhzhia at 9:10 p.m. local time on January 14. The aircraft apparently disappeared from radar and stopped responding to requests from tactical aviation.
According to sources, on the evening of the incident, the pilot of a Russian Su-30 fighter jet was said to have spotted a plane on fire and crashing.
Meanwhile, the Il-22M was on a mission in the Strilkove area before it was reportedly shot down along the coast of the Sea of Azov at around 9 p.m. local time. RBC posted an audio recording of what it said was a conversation between the pilot of the Russian plane and the airport controller in Anapa, Russia. The pilot called for an evacuation, as well as an ambulance and fire brigade.
Yury Mysiagin, deputy chairman of the National Security, Defense and Intelligence Committee in the Ukrainian parliament, said on Telegram that two Russian planes were destroyed on the evening of January 14. However, there has been no confirmation from Ukrainian military officials. Russia has not commented on this information.
Location of the Sea of Azov (Photo: US Department of Defense).
The A-50 aircraft performs a number of important tasks during Russia's military campaign in Ukraine, such as detecting air defense systems, guided missiles and coordinating targets for Russian fighters.
The A-50 is an airborne early warning aircraft with command and control capabilities and the ability to track up to 60 targets at once. The cost of the A-50 ranges from 330-500 million USD depending on the version.
The A-50U is known as the "eye of the gods" and "giant data processing center in the air" with the ability to detect and track targets on land, in the air and at sea. The A-50U is also famous for its ability to transmit changes on the battlefield to the command center as well as direct combat and air attacks.
Built on the frame of the Ilyushin Il-76 "workhorse" aircraft, the A-50U can detect ground targets within a range of nearly 300km and air targets within a range of 600km.
The A-50U has a dome on top, which the Russian crew calls the "mushroom". It is the Shmel-M radar with a diameter of nearly 11m, including 2 internal antennas and it rotates 6 times/minute, always in search mode.
The A-50U is also equipped with a control center, which can simultaneously direct 10-12 fighters.
According to Kyiv Independent , although the A-50 plays an extremely important role, Russia only owns 8 of this type of aircraft. In case this aircraft is shot down, Russia will have difficulty if it cannot replace it in time.
Russia operates the A-50 at a suitable distance from Ukrainian air defense systems. Therefore, if Ukraine shoots down an A-50, this would be particularly noteworthy information.
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