A Beriev A-50 early warning and control aircraft flies over the Kremlin and Red Square in downtown Moscow to mark the 75th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, May 9, 2020.
Photo by YURI KADOBNOV/AFP via Getty Images
Russia has likely started using its valuable early warning planes in the Ukraine war, UK intel said. British intelligence said Moscow may be worried about Kyiv deploying Western fighter jets.Russia will likely “accept more risk” by flying A-50 Mainstay D aircraft close to the front line, the group said.
Russia has likely started using its valuable early warning planes in its war in Ukraine to give its air defenses a boost, likely because Moscow is worried about Kyiv deploying Western fighter jets in the near future, according to Western intelligence.
Britain’s defense ministry wrote in a Friday intelligence update that Russia is thought to have deployed its A-50 Mainstay D aircraft to identify targets over Ukraine for its prized SA-21 long-range ground-based air defense missile system, more commonly known by its Russian name: the S-400 Triumf.
“This adds to Mainstay’s core mission of co-ordinating fighter aircraft,” the intelligence update said.
British intelligence noted that the A-50 Mainstay aircraft has the ability to use its sophisticated radar to spot enemy planes at longer ranges because “its altitude allows it to see further around the curvature of the Earth,” while the S-400 radars are more limited.
Ukrainian soldiers hide during the shelling at the air defense positions held in Kostiantynivka, Ukraine, on August 8, 2023.
Wojciech Grzedzinski/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Russia has “likely expedited integrating” the Mainstay and S-400 “partially because it is concerned about the prospect of Ukraine deploying Western-provided combat aircraft,” the British update said.
Britain explained that there is a “realistic possibility” that Russia will “accept more risk” by flying the early warning aircraft closer to the sprawling front line that stretches across Ukraine “in order to effectively carry out its new role.”
The trade-off for Moscow is that this could put the plane within range of Ukraine’s air defenses, which has so far largely kept the Russian air force at bay.
As an airborne early warning and control aircraft, the Mainstay — NATO’s name for the decades-old, Soviet-era Beriev A-50 — is capable of detecting inbound threats like aircraft, missiles, and other projectiles. It can also act as a mobile command and control center, miles above the battlefield, and direct air engagement and strikes. Because it can fly at high altitudes and is very mobile, these planes also tend to be less vulnerable to attacks than ground-based radars.
Although the Mainstay has the capacity to give Russian surface-to-air missile systems more reach, Moscow’s formidable S-400 air-defense system has still gained significant notoriety in Ukraine and the West for its effectiveness during the war.
The mobile system is capable of engaging targets — like cruise and ballistic missiles and aircraft and drones — at high altitudes and long ranges and considered to be the equivalent of the US military’s Patriot system, which Ukraine also operates.
The Beriev A-50
Photo by Sefa Karacan/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Any potential concern over Western fighter jets comes as Ukrainian pilots and personnel are training on how to fly and maintain American-made F-16 fighter jets. Although the much-anticipated program, which is taking place in both the US and Europe, is underway, some US officials have suggested that Kyiv won’t receive the advanced warplanes until next year.
When the fighter jets eventually start flying above the battlefield, how they’re used may depend on what missiles the aircraft are equipped with, experts say. In a defensive counter-air role, the jets could engage enemy targets like missiles and drones to protect Ukrainian civilians and troops, complementing Kyiv’s strained air-defense network that consists of Western and Soviet-era systems.
In an offensive role, the F-16s could help with air-to-ground operations or engage in the suppression of Russia’s air defense. But in any capacity, Britain’s intelligence update suggests that Moscow is turning to the Mainstay as a preemptive measure to counter the American warplanes and the threats that they might pose when they arrive.
