Russians Lose Second A-50 Airborne Early Warning and Control Aircraft over the Sea of Azov

The Russians have lost another А-50 airborne early warning and control aircraft in the skies over the Sea of Azov.

Russian propaganda media reported on this.

The aircraft’s tail number, area, and means of destruction are still unknown. The destruction of the aircraft was confirmed by Mykola Oleschuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force.

Russian propagandists, as usual, blame the loss of their aircraft on their own air defense, claiming that the anti-aircraft missiles were launched from the territory of Mariupol.

The Ukrainian airspace monitoring resource monitor reports that the Russian A-50 completed its work over the Sea of Azov at 7:05 p.m., after which it was supposed to head for the airfield in Akhtubinsk.

Videos from eyewitnesses have started circulating online, showing the moment when chaffs (dipole reflectors) were seemingly dispersed by a large aircraft engaged in active maneuvers, followed by a direct hit.

There are videos from eyewitnesses showing a large-scale fire that were taken after the plane crashed near the village of Trudovaya Armenia in the Kanevsky district of Krasnodar Krai.

Other Russian media sources and local residents say that another plane or helicopter of an unknown type also crashed near the village.

As previously reported, Russia lost its first A-50U airborne early warning and control aircraft on January 15, when it was flying missions over the Sea of Azov.

А-50

А-50 is an airborne early warning and control aircraft based on the Il-76 military transport aircraft that conducted its maiden flight on December 19, 1978.

It was developed by the Taganrog Aviation Scientific-Technical Complex and the Vega Scientific and Production Association to replace the already outdated Tu-126. The operation of prototypes began in 1985, and the aircraft was adopted by the Soviet army in 1988.

In Soviet times, industry managed to produce about 31 aircraft, until nowadays there were not many “alive” aircraft, only about 12 in various modifications: 9 in service with the Russian Air Force in modifications of А-50 and А-50U (3 and 6, respectively), the rest in service with Armed Forces of India.

The aircraft is equipped with the Shmel radio system based on the Soviet Argon-50 airborne electronic computer.

А-50 can give external target designations to fighters and act as an air command post.

Read more about the Soviet-Russian A-50 and A-50U aircraft in the article on Militarnyi.