Ukrainian forces damage Russian A-50 reconnaissance aircraft, General Staff reports
Photo: Ukrainian forces damaged a Russian A-50 aircraft (Russian media)
Ukrainian defenders managed to damage a Russian A-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft during an attack on an aircraft repair plant in Russia’s Novgorod region, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reports.
Damage to the A-50
The General Staff said the results of the strike on the 123rd Aircraft Repair Plant in the city of Staraya Russa, Novgorod region, had been clarified.
"Additional confirmation of damage to an A-50 airborne early warning aircraft has been received. It was located on the facility’s premises for maintenance and may have been awaiting modernization," the Ukrainian military command said.
Strikes on other Russian facilities
According to the General Staff, on the night of March 20, Ukrainian forces also attacked facilities of the Alchevsk Metallurgical Plant in the temporarily occupied part of the Luhansk region.
The plant is involved in the production of artillery shells, including casting and primary processing of large-caliber blanks. It also participates in the production and repair of armored steel for military equipment used by the Russian army.
Separately, the General Staff added that Ukrainian forces struck infrastructure at the Vostochnyi training ground (Novopetrivka, temporarily occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region).
About the A-50
The Russian A-50 is an airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Il-76 military transport plane.
It is designed to detect and track air and surface targets, transmit information to command posts, and direct fighter and strike aircraft.
In essence, it is a flying radar and airborne command post that coordinates aviation operations and allows control of the situation over hundreds of kilometers.
The A-50 can detect air targets at a range of up to 650 km and track dozens of objects simultaneously, transmitting data to other aircraft. Its crew consists of about 15 people.
Last year, during Operation Spiderweb, Ukrainian forces managed to damage several such aircraft.
