Journal of Military Observation: The Russian "Airborne Early Warning" Series Production is Blocked, Only Able to "Blindly" Fight
The A-50 airborne early warning aircraft will still be produced in limited quantities, while the A-100 airborne early warning aircraft can basically be put on hold.
(Image: Russian A-100 Airborne Early Warning and Command Aircraft)
The United Aircraft Corporation (UAC) of Russia has postponed the emergency mass production plan for the modernized A-50 airborne early warning and command aircraft (DRLOiU, i.e., long-range radar detection and control system).
The general designer and vice president of the group, Sergei Korotkov, detailed the future direction of the plan in a recent interview. He said, "It has not yet been decided to mass-produce the A-50 airborne early warning aircraft," and added that the final decision would be made only after all current design testing work is completed.
Korotkov explained that multiple onboard systems of the aircraft are still in the testing phase, and the mass production plan will be postponed until these systems meet the required performance indicators.
The performance of Russia's airborne early warning aircraft fleet is still far behind that of related countries and the United States — not only is the number of deployed aircraft significantly reduced, but the types and functions of the existing systems also have obvious limitations.
Although the A-100 airborne early warning aircraft, the successor to the A-50, completed its first flight in November 2017 and made its first test flight with a new sensor package in February 2022, the project still faces serious delays, mainly due to shortcomings in Russia's electronics industry.
The A-100 airborne early warning aircraft was developed based on the same Il-76 transport platform as the A-50, and according to design, it should have better reliability, stronger interference resistance, longer detection range, and higher automation level than the latter.
Several technologies developed for the A-100 have been used to upgrade the Soviet-era A-50 airborne early warning aircraft to the A-50U standard, which significantly improved the aircraft's situational awareness capabilities and extended the detection range for fighter-type targets from 400 km to over 700 km.
The performance of the A-50U airborne early warning aircraft has been fully tested in the Ukrainian battlefield, although Ukrainian and Western sources claim that two of these rare aircraft have been destroyed.
The airborne early warning system (DRLO) is considered a key equipment for enhancing air combat effectiveness — it not only provides the command layer with a more comprehensive situational awareness, but also enables command and control of combat forces, and can provide target guidance for missiles launched by fighters and air defense systems.
By continuously illuminating the target with radar, the airborne early warning aircraft can provide guidance for the missile without activating the missile's own attack warning radar receiver.
The missile guidance capability of the A-50U airborne early warning aircraft has been verified on the Ukrainian battlefield — the aircraft has provided target guidance for the 40N6 missiles of the S-400 air defense system, as well as the R-37M missiles (range of 400 km) launched by the Su-35 fighter jets.
Although the MiG-31BM interceptor is equipped with a powerful radar, its performance is comparable to that of a light airborne early warning radar, and does not require support from an early warning system. However, the radars of the S-400 air defense system and the Su-35 fighter jet lack the ability to guide targets at long distances. Therefore, the support of airborne early warning systems such as the A-50U is crucial for these equipment.
Some opinions believe that one of the reasons for the delay in the improvement of the A-50 airborne early warning aircraft's onboard systems is to adjust and improve the improvement plan based on the practical experience gained from the Ukrainian battlefield.
Original text: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7553900303003796011/
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