According to a report by Globo, the Russian military's air surveillance system has suffered a serious blow as Ukraine successfully shot down yet another precious A-50U AWACS aircraft. According to preliminary estimates by foreign media, since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, two A-50U have been destroyed, and the other has been severely damaged by drones. This makes Russia the only country in modern warfare to lose a large AWACS aircraft, setting an inglorious record in the history of human air warfare.
According to the latest Russian news, the head of the "Rostek" group in the Russian military-industrial field, Chemezov, said that the company is planning to restart the production of A-50 series early warning aircraft. Chemezov stressed that work on the remanufacture of this model will be carried out due to the demand of both the Russian military and international customers. However, it is widely believed that this is actually a desperate situation for the Russian military, which can only urgently restart the production line to meet the urgent needs of the front-line army.
Obviously, the frequent downing of the A-50 is somehow related to its return to production and the rapid progress of the Russian army in the advance of ground forces. After entering 2024, the Russian army has made significant progress in ground propulsion, however, it is worrying that on January 15 and February 24, two A-50U AWACS aircraft were shot down in the Sea of Azov region one after another. As a huge early warning aircraft, it should be in relatively safe airspace on the battlefield and provide early warning information, information relay and intelligence gathering functions for other combat aircraft. However, the A-50 has suffered consecutive defeats in less than two months, which may mean that there are deficiencies in the performance of the aircraft, or that there are serious problems at the command level of the Russian army.
The analysis of the West ** believes that since the Russian army has destroyed almost all Ukrainian air defense systems and fighter jets, the Russian army may think that it is relatively safe to send A-50 AWACS aircraft to the front line. However, the Ukrainian army proved by facts the cost of underestimating the enemy. Intelligence shows that the two A-50U AWACS aircraft were shot down by the Patriot-2 air defense system provided to Ukraine by the West, as well as the Soviet-made S-200 anti-aircraft missiles reactivated by Ukraine.
Judging by the superficial data, these two ** are not "top-of-the-line" missiles. Although the Patriot-2 is an American product and is currently Ukraine's longest-range air defense**, its range does not exceed 200 km. And the Soviet-made S-200 anti-aircraft missile, which has a range of less than 200 km. The A-50 was shot down by these **, showing that it is isolated on the battlefield and cannot even warn of its own danger in advance, let alone provide early warning for other fighters.
At present, only six of the nine A-50 large AWACS aircraft in service are still in service. Considering the performance problems of the machine, its role may be limited even if it is re-put into production. Even the upgraded A-50U of the Russian army, although it provides a new computing system with digital signal processing functions, and its detection range has been increased from 350 kilometers to 600 kilometers of the A-50, but compared with the world's mainstream large early warning aircraft, its performance is still relatively mediocre.
In addition, the plan to reactivate the A-50 AWACS aircraft will need to take into account the current situation of the Il-76 transport aircraft in the Russian Air Force. The fuselage of the A-50U uses the Il-76MD, although the number of this model is large and there are still some in the Russian Air Force, but since the Il-76 cannot be produced again, most of the models have been in service for many years, and it will require cumbersome technical modifications to convert it into an AWACS aircraft. In the event of an urgent need, it may be a viable option to consider the procurement of A-50EI AWACS aircraft from India.
It is worth noting that Russia may currently be too focused on resuming the production of A-50 AWACS aircraft and can consider a more open mind. After all, the south of Russia is adjacent to the production area of the most advanced AWACS aircraft in the world at the moment. The ZDK-03 AWACS aircraft procured by Pakistan provides a successful reference for other countries. In the current situation that Russia has recovery needs, China and Russia have similarities in terms of advanced systems, as long as Russia is willing to cooperate, the purchase of China's advanced UAVs may be a more realistic choice. This will not only shorten the construction period, but also obtain a more advanced system with more advanced performance, which is more in line with the real needs of the Russian Air Force. However, given that Russia and Ukraine are at war, even if Russia is willing to procure, whether China is willing to ** is still a question that needs to be resolved.