The Russian authorities run United Plane Company has delayed an pressing program to renew serial manufacturing of a modernised variant of the A-50 airborne early warning and management (AEW&C) programs, with the company’s normal designer and deputy normal director Sergey Korotkov offering particulars on this system’s future in a latest interview. “There isn’t any resolution on the serial manufacturing of the A-50 at this stage,” he acknowledged, including that closing willpower would come solely after ongoing improvement work is accomplished. He elaborated that most of the plane’s onboard programs are nonetheless in testing, with manufacturing plans set to stay on maintain till they meet the required efficiency requirements. The Russian AEW&C fleet stays way more restricted in its capabilities than these of China and the US, as not solely are far much less of the programs in service, however the range of operational programs and their capabilities are additionally far more restricted.
Though a successor to the A-50 designated the A-100 made its maiden flight in November 2017, and subsequently made its first flight utilizing its new sensor suite in February 2022, this system has continued to face appreciable delays due primarily to deficiencies in Russia’s electronics business. The plane was anticipated to offer superior reliability, larger immunity to jamming, a for much longer detection vary and better ranges of automation than its predecessor, with each it and the A-50 being primarily based on the identical Il-78 airframe. Most of the applied sciences developed for the A-100 have been used to modernise Soviet-built A-50 plane to the A-50U normal, which has considerably improved situational consciousness and elevated its detection vary towards fighter sized targets from 400km to over 700km. The A-50U’s capabilities have been extensively fight examined in Ukraine, though Ukrainain and Western sources have claimed that two of the programs had been shot down by lengthy vary surface-to-air missile programs, together with one by a Soviet S-200 system.
AEW&Cs are thought of extremely precious pressure multipliers for air operations, and never solely present larger situational consciousness to the broader pressure, but additionally command and management, whereas with the ability to information missiles launched by each fighters and air defences in direction of their targets. Their steady radar illumination of targets additionally permits them for use for concentrating on with out alerting the radar warning receivers of the targets. The utility of the A-50U for missile steerage has been demonstrated within the Ukrainain theatre, the place it’s relied on closely to information 40N6 surface-to-air missiles from the S-400 system, and R-37M missiles launched by Su-35 fighters, which each have 400 kilometre ranges. Though Russian MiG-31BM interceptors have notably highly effective radars corresponding to these of lighter AEW&Cs, and don’t want such assist, theradars on different belongings similar to S-400s and Su-35s are inadequate for concentrating on at extra excessive ranges, which makes assist from AEW&C programs just like the A-50U important. It has been speculated {that a} trigger for delays in refining the A-50’s onboard programs has been the necessity to incorporate classes from fight in Ukraine in to the deliberate changes.
