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Last week, Moscow’s air power was dealt a serious blow when Ukraine claimed to have shot down a long-range Russian reconnaissance plane near the Sea of Azov.
Ukraine also claimed to have caused significant damage to a Russian Air Force IL-22.
Russia’s Beriev A-50 typically operates with a crew of 15 and provides long-range radar surveillance across the battlefield.
Unlike ground-based radars whose line-of-sight is limited by the Earth’s curvature, the Soviet-designed A-50, dubbed “Mainstay” by NATO, can detect enemy aircraft and missiles up to 400 miles away.
So how did Ukraine manage to target two Russian aircraft that should have been aware of the Ukrainian threat long before they approached?
our military analyst Sean BellThe former fighter pilot said on the Red Matrix podcast this week that the apparently successful attack marked “a major victory for Ukraine over Russia’s enemies.”
He did not deny that the Russian military had lost an A50, noting that evidence had emerged of “a badly damaged IL-22 that landed immediately after the incident.”
“It is possible that Russia shot down the aircraft by mistake, but that would be a particularly serious mistake under the circumstances,” he said.
The military expert acknowledged that “we will probably never know the full details of the losses of these Russian aircraft,” but it is clear that Ukraine successfully targeted Moscow, Russia, on April 14, 2022. shared similarities with. Black Sea.
Although the actual circumstances of recent losses are open to speculation, Bell suggested that “it is entirely possible that a Russian A50 was lost to a U.S.-provided Patriot missile system.”
So why didn’t Russian aircraft detect and avoid the Patriot system?
Bell said that knowing the missile’s range would allow Russian aircraft to plan “to avoid flying too close,” but in this case the Ukrainians improvised “by using aerial photography from another radar source.” “Therefore, we did not betray the missile’s range.” The location of the missile system itself. ”
This could lead Russian pilots to believe that their aircraft is out of range of the Patriot missile system.
But regardless of the tactics used by the Ukrainian military, Bell suggested that “the ability of the Ukrainian military to evade attack would have been significant.”
Listen to Bell’s RedMatrix podcast here.
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