During operations against Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft, the Ukrainian military used Soviet-made missiles, as well as modern Patriot complexes.
Points of attention
- The Ukrainian military shot down Russian A-50 aircraft using Patriot and Soviet S-200 systems.
- The operations showed high efficiency of using the mentioned complexes.
- The Armed Forces managed to recover S-200 systems and use Patriot mobile batteries to successfully shoot down Russian aircraft.
- In various operations, the Ukrainian military used a decoy tactical move, which led to the successful destruction of Russian aircraft.
How the Armed Forces managed to shoot down Russian A-50 planes
As the publication notes, the decision to restore the S-200 system was made in May 2022.
A representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine said that it was possible to find specialists who previously worked with these complexes and engineers for their restoration.
The first rocket launch took place in the fall of 2023. Although the target, an A-50 aircraft, avoided being hit by changing its trajectory, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of the system.
We have shown the enemy air force that they cannot act with impunity. After the first launch, when we fired two rockets, the enemy saw how quickly we evacuated the installations and could not detect us, - explained the GUR officer.
In 2024, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine used Patriot mobile batteries. According to the lieutenant colonel of the Ukrainian Air Force, the operation was very risky, since the Patriot had to be brought closer to the front line. On January 14, the battery was waiting for the Russian A-50 when it was crossing the Sea of Azov with an Il-22 aircraft.
The Russians thought they were out of range, but two minutes after the missile launch, the A-50 was shot down and the Il-22 was damaged.
After that, the Russian command took the A-50 away from the Sea of Azov, but they remained in the range of the S-200. On February 23, Ukrainian forces attacked the second A-50, which was about 170 km from the front.
In another operation, the Ukrainian military used the S-300 as a decoy to lure Russian aircraft into the Patriot strike zone. As a result, out of six planes, two were shot down by the S-300, and four by the Patriot.
On April 19, the S-200 system shot down a Tu-22MZ bomber that was launching missiles over Ukraine. It fell in the Stavropol region of Russia. After that, the Russian military changed its strategy and started launching missiles from a greater distance.
Ukraine shot down an A-50
On February 23, 2024, a Russian A-50 anti-aircraft missile was shot down over the Sea of Azov. The wreckage of the aircraft fell in the Krasnodar Territory.
Soon, the former commander of the Air Force of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, confirmed that the Russian plane was "landed" by the Ukrainians.
Russian "military personnel" assured that the A-50 was shot down by Russian anti-aircraft defense. They followed the same version during the fall of the first such plane on January 14.
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