US Media reveals Russian Military’s secret weapon

The Beriev A-50U, the deeply modernised version of Russia’s A-50 “flying radar” reconnaissance aircraft, will play an important role in ensuring the effectiveness of Russia’s military intelligence capability on the battlefield, National Interest contributor Mark Episkopos believes.

In a recent article for the magazine’s website, Episkopos listed off the A-50U’s key features, like its ability to track ground targets at ranges up to 300 km, and aerial targets up to 650 km away thanks to the Shmel-M (literally “Bumblebee-M”) – the plane’s onboard, rotating, mushroom dome-shaped radar tracking system. The new radar complex also has a missile launch detection range of up to 1,000 km.

A-50U, ilk olarak 1980’lerin sonlarında hizmete giren Sovyet dönemi Havadan Erken Uyarı ve Kontrol uçağı olan A-50’nin bir yükseltmesidir. Uçaklar, Ilyushin Tasarım Bürosu tarafından tasarlanan çok amaçlı dört motorlu turbofan stratejik hava kaldırıcı olan Il-76MD askeri nakliyesi temelinde inşa edildi.