A-50 has not been recorded in the sky for the last six days.
A week after the loss of the second A-50U aircraft, Russia stopped Fleet flights in support of operations in Ukraine. This is likely to continue as internal investigations continue into the failure to protect the aircraft and how to mitigate the threat that Ukrainian air defense continues to pose.
This is reported by the UK Ministry of Defense.
The loss of the ability to provide day-to-day command and control of Russian air operations likely significantly degrades the situational awareness provided to aircrews. Russia can hardly afford such a gap in capability over the airspace of eastern and southern Ukraine.
“It is likely that Russia will have to explore options to bridge this gap, including repurposing aircraft and taking greater risks to provide the effective air support its ground forces need but are likely not receiving,” they write analysts.
This issue has been exacerbated by the cessation of A-50 support operations. Airframe and crew fatigue will worsen as the A-50 returns to service and the fleet becomes increasingly stretched. Perhaps Russia will try to return the previously mothballed A-50 airframes to improve the situation.
Recall that the Air Force received “additional tools” that allowed them to shoot down enemy aircraft more often. This is a serious psychological blow to Russian pilots.
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