Russia Reportedly Down to Just Five A-50U Early-Warning Aircraft

Combat losses and Western sanctions have left Russia with only about five operational A-50U long-range radar detection aircraft, according to the OSINT channel Cyber Boroshno. For most of its war against Ukraine, Moscow kept these aircraft in reserve — but that has now changed.

"They're now flying patrols almost every night to detect Ukrainian drones operating deep in Russian territory," the channel's analysts reported.

A sharp jump in sorties

Analysts reviewed more than 1,600 reports covering the period from June 4 to August 2. At the start of that window, the only notable activity was the return to service of a repaired aircraft with the tail number Red 47.

Things changed on June 23, when one aircraft began patrolling over the Ulyanovsk and Samara regions, mostly at night. Others soon joined it. "All of a sudden there were 60 combat sorties," the analysts said, noting that A-50U takeoffs later shifted even deeper into Russian territory — from airfields in Ivanovo and Ulyanovsk to sites near Perm, Orenburg and Chelyabinsk.

"On the night of July 7, four of these aircraft were airborne at the same time — that's nearly the entire fleet of Beriev-built planes Russia has left," the analysts said. The reason, they explained, is that Russia's ground-based air defenses are struggling to detect long-range Ukrainian missiles and drones, and the A-50U's onboard radar helps spot them early.

A flying command post

The A-50U serves as an airborne command post, scanning the sky for hundreds of kilometers and guiding Russian fighter jets and missiles onto their targets. It is the only aircraft in Russia's arsenal capable of tracking aircraft and cruise missiles at ranges of up to 700 kilometers.

Ukraine has already shot down one such aircraft over the Sea of Azov on January 14, 2024, and according to Ukrainian officials, a second was hit on February 23, 2024, over Russia's Krasnodar region.

Analysts estimate that Russia entered the war against Ukraine with fewer than ten of these aircraft in service, and the only factory that maintains them, in Taganrog, has suffered serious damage from Ukrainian strikes. Given the sanctions in place, analysts say Moscow's only real alternative is a Chinese-made long-range radar detection aircraft.

What is known about the A-50

The Beriev A-50U "Shmel" (NATO reporting name: Mainstay) is a Soviet-turned-Russian long-range radar detection aircraft built on the airframe of the Il-76 transport plane.

The first prototype flew in 1978, entered service in 1984, and around 40 units were built by 1992. Its radar system can track 50–60 targets simultaneously (up to 150 in the upgraded version) and guide 10–12 fighter jets at once. The onboard electronics weigh up to 20 tonnes.

The radar can detect a low-flying, fighter-sized target against ground clutter at a range of 200–400 km, a high-altitude target of the same size at 300–600 km, and surface targets at up to 400 km. The A-50U has a top speed of 800 km/h, a service ceiling of up to 12,000 meters, and typically patrols at altitudes of 5,000–10,000 meters.

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Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz