Russia Is Running Out of A-50 Spy Planes

Ukraine has zeroed in on Russia's very powerful, and very expensive, spy planes. And it has been very successful in doing so.

Kyiv has taken out two of Russia's scarce Beriev A-50 airborne warning and control (AWACS) aircraft since the start of the year. Ukraine said it took out an A-50 over the Sea of Azov in mid-January, followed by a second A-50 in late February.

Over the weekend, Ukraine reached over the border into Russia's Rostov region, and is thought to have struck an aviation facility in the city of Taganrog tasked with repairing A-50s. The governor of the Rostov region reported a "massive" drone strike, but said there had been "no damage to the city infrastructure." Ukrainian officials and Russian military bloggers said the aircraft facility close to the city was targeted.

The Taganrog plant was "heavily damaged," and the A-50 aircraft close to the facility was either destroyed or sustained significant damage, Ukrainian MP Oleksiy Goncharenko told Newsweek on Sunday. It is not clear whether this aircraft was previously damaged or operational.

Nevertheless, the bruising loss of at least two A-50s in 2024 limits Russia's eyes in the sky and its operations over Ukraine. At the most, Russia is believed to have just six A-50s left.

If the Kremlin loses another A-50, it will be unable to keep up 24/7 operations, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, said in February.

Newsweek has contacted the Russian Defense Ministry for comment.

There are already signs that gaps left by downed A-50s are being felt. In late February, Ukraine's military suggested Moscow was "trying to replace" its A-50s with reconnaissance drones — although experts suggested to Newsweek that this stop-gap measure would have limited success.

After losing the first A-50 of this year, Russia kept its replacement A-50 operating over Russian territory in the hope of preventing a loss of another aircraft, the U.K. government assessed at the time. Russia also likely grounded its entire A-50 fleet after the loss of the second aircraft in February, the British government then said in early March.

Moscow may be turning to reviving mothballed A-50 airframes to bring its count of operational planes back up, the U.K. Defense Ministry suggested earlier this month. This would follow the trend of Russia resuscitating out-of-use equipment, such as pulling its oldest tanks from storage.

Each A-50 is kitted out with a "powerful radar which operates outside the frequency of normal cameras and is capable of recognising movements of vehicles on the land and in the air in a single sweep," U.K.-based drone expert Steve Wright previously told Newsweek.

"At the height at which they operate, their radar horizon stretches much further than a ground-based radar," Frederik Mertens, an analyst with the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies, added in mid-January.

Also known by their NATO moniker, Mainstay, A-50s help Russia seek out Ukrainian air defenses and coordinate attacks to be carried out by other aircraft, such as fourth-generation jets.

Losing A-50s "diminishes their capabilities in conducting radar reconnaissance of Ukrainian territory, detecting air targets, as well as detecting our radar systems," said Kyiv's air force spokesperson, Colonel Yuriy Ignat.

Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.