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Mar 1
The Russian air force went to war in Ukraine with just nine of its most important aircraft: its hulking Beriev A-50 radar planes. Now it is down
to six A-50s – and these losses could have a profound impact on the
course of the wider war.

That’s because the Russians, after a very slow start, are attempting to
bring to bear their overwhelming advantage over the Ukrainians when it
comes to supersonic fighters. The Ukrainian air force is doing its best
to shoot down the speedy warplanes, but it’s easier – and much faster – to blind them, instead.

The four-engined A-50s with their massive, top-mounted radars are the fighter-bombers’ eyes, and the Ukrainians are poking them out one by one.

The A-50, a highly specialized modification of the Ilyushin Il-76
airlifter, is what air forces call an “airborne early warning” plane.
That is, a flying radar station. The US Air Force introduced its iconic
Boeing E-3 airborne early warning and control system, or AWACS, in the
1970s. These radar-equipped 707 airliners, much upgraded, are still
flying today.

Putting long-range radars on planes isn’t done just for fun. A radar up
in the sky at 30,000 feet or more has line of sight to the horizon
hundreds of miles away. It can detect even the lowest-flying aircraft
anywhere inside that radius. A mast-mounted radar down on the surface,
by contrast, is unlikely to have a horizon much further off than thirty
miles or so: anything beyond that distance will be able to “fly below
the radar”, hiding below the horizon and avoiding detection.


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David Peters
· Mar 2
No A50U flew on Thursday apparently

The reason is that they had 8 made, 3 are gone and several are not
airworthy and not seen recently. The few remaining need maintenance and
crew rests

There are not enough for 24/7 coverage of Southern Ukraine.

They were an aid in directing S400 anti airmissiles, identifying targets
and giving mid course corrections which increased the effectiveness and
range.

The remainder are at serious risk of a sudden attack by F16 with long
range missiles. This is a mission long practiced by US aviators.

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Barry Taylor
· Mar 2
No Doubt you all know about Over the Horizon Radar developed in
Australia over many years, so you don't always need a plane in the sky
to know what is going on over the horizon Baz Australia

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Coraian Zoltan Corzo
· Mar 2
OTH radar is an old invention, nothing fancy. It will detect flying
targets hundreds or even thousands of kms away. Even stealth targets.
But it cannot locale them. It cannot be used for targeting or for identification. It can tell that on approximate azimuth X, at
approximate distance Y it is something with an RCS of Z sqm. It will
always be needed an identification capable high frequency radar and
eventually a targeting radar. A50 has all of them.

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Steve
· Mar 2
Is that radar still in use?


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Matt B
· Mar 5
OTH is massively-long-wave, making it useless for anything other than
telling you roughly that something is happening a few thousand miles
away in X direction.

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Sebastian Hong
· Mar 2
Can’t it build more?

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Drazen Zoric
· Mar 2
Russia is struggling with one A-50 in production (newer version).
Of 6 left, I read how only 3 - 4 are operational.

Stan Coolidge
Russia Better save them for the coming war with nato.
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Jan Schorsij
· Mar 2
I presume the A in A50 stands for Antonov. Wasn’t Antonov produced in Ukraine? More specific near Hostomel airport? Than no, they can not
build more..what a pity))))

Andy Le Vien
No, they are Berievs.
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Jim Is Fascinated By You
· Mar 5
Castrate Russia’s ability to wage effective conventional war and listen
to Putin squeal impotent threats. It doesn’t get better than that until
that maggot chokes and croaks.

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Milko Samuilov
· Mar 2
Hahaha, most likely tomorrow you will write that Russia is completely
without A50?

Nice dreams you have, but unfortunately for you, these are only dreams
that were born from stupid Ukrainian fakes!

Watching, listening and reading dumb Ukrainian fakes leads to total
dumbing down!

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Phung Te Ha
· Mar 4
So you guys still have more, right? Good for you. And again be careful
when flying any of them, don’t forget to fuel them up then, or else they
will again fall out of the sky for no reason.

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Mike Heffernan
· Mar 6
Glorious society you’ve got there, comrade.

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