Russia has decided to temporarily ground the fighter jet after losing two priceless A-50 early warning and control aircraft in just a few weeks, according to British Defence**. Recently, Russian forces appeared to have the upper hand on the battlefield in Ukraine, capturing Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast, but a series of subsequent reports of heavy losses have called into question optimistic assessments of Moscow's air power.
On February 23, the Ukrainian Air Force announced that a Russian Beriev A-50U long-range radar detection aircraft was hit by a Soviet S-200 air defense system near the Sea of Azov and unfortunately fell. Some Russian military bloggers speculated that the plane may have been accidentally hit by friendly forces, but the Russian Ministry of Defense has not yet responded to this matter. Newsweek has emailed the Russian Ministry of Defense comments about the British Defense Ministry's assessment, which often highlights Russia's losses and Ukraine's gains. However, the statistics of equipment losses are like a fog, and both sides seem to be inflating the opponent's loss figures.
On May 9, 2020, a Beriev A-50 early warning and control aircraft flew over the Kremlin and Red Square, witnessing the glorious moment of the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. However, time flies, and now the aircraft, which NATO has hailed as a "mainstay", each worth more than $300 million, has not only put heavy financial pressure on Moscow, but its loss has also dealt a big blow to Russia's war efforts, especially after Kyiv claimed to have shot down the same type of aircraft. On January 14, a similar tragedy was repeated over the same waters.
On February 27, Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Inat revealed that Ukrainian forces have not found any traces of A-50 aircraft in four days since the A-50 fell. In response, the British Defense Ministry explained that Moscow may have decided to temporarily ground the aircraft in order to conduct an in-depth investigation into the cause of the "failure to protect another valuable asset". The United Kingdom** said that Russia is currently facing the dilemma of how to mitigate the continuing air defense threat posed by Ukraine. The British Ministry of Defense stressed that the loss of the A-50 would seriously weaken the situational awareness provided to the crew, a capability gap that Russia cannot afford, especially in the disputed airspace in eastern and southern Ukraine.
Moscow may close this gap by repurposing aircraft and "embracing greater risk" tactics. To ease the pressure on the Air Force fleet, Russia plans to activate the previously mothballed A-50 airframe to more effectively provide air support to ground forces. However, when the A-50 returned to service, "the fatigue of the airframe and crew will almost certainly increase." According to Ukrainian sources, Russia is trying to recover from fighter jets lost over the past two weeks, with one Sukhoi Su-35 fighter "disappearing from radar" near Mariupol on Friday. Newsweek has not confirmed this claim. If the disappearance was indeed caused by a Ukrainian attack, then this would be the 14th Russian plane shot down by Kyiv in 14 days. Ukraine's Ministry of Defense claimed on Thursday that it had managed to shoot down two Su-34 fighter-bombers, as well as A-50s, over the past two weeks.
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