(Dan Tri) – Ukraine said Russia is finding ways to adapt after losing two A-50 airborne early warning aircraft for two consecutive months.
The A-50 is one of the rare aircraft models in the Russian arsenal (Photo: Russian Army).
Kiev said Russian forces on the Southern front are using UAVs to compensate for the fact that `Ukraine shot down two A-50 spy planes` worth hundreds of millions of dollars in the past 2 months.
However, Ukraine believes that it is difficult for Russia to find a quick solution to replace the loss of one of the very rare and important aircraft in the arsenal.
`They are trying to collect information that the A-50 can no longer transmit by using reconnaissance UAVs,` said spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern forces Natalia Humeniuk.
Previously, Ukraine announced that it had shot down two Russian A-50s this year.
Russia has not commented on this information.
According to Forbes, Russia has nine A-50s, but six appear to be in need of an upgrade.
If they really lose 2 A-50s as Ukraine claims, Russia may only have 1 left ready for duty.
UK-based drone expert Steve Wright said it certainly makes sense that Russia is deploying drones to fill the gaps left by the loss of A-air early warning and control aircraft.
Beriev A-50 aircraft help Russia search for Ukrainian air defense forces and coordinate attacks carried out by other Moscow aircraft.
The A-50 has a `powerful radar that operates beyond the frequencies of conventional cameras and is capable of detecting the movements of ground and air vehicles in a single scan,` Wright said.
Frederik Mertens, analyst at The Hague Center for Strategic Studies (Netherlands), added: `UAVs are unlikely to have enough capacity to replace the A-50, even if they are equipped with radar.`
Russia may be using a combination of famous reconnaissance drones, such as the Orlan-10 and Orlan-30, said expert Samuel Bendett, of the Center for Naval Analyses.
No UAV can provide the same capabilities as an early warning aircraft but a combination of different UAVs with different ranges and altitudes could fill some of the gaps left by the loss of A-
The A-50U is known as the `magic eye` and `giant aerial data processing center` with the ability to detect and detect targets on the ground, in the air and on the water.