The Beriev A-50 is a Russian patrol and reconnaissance aircraft. Equipped with a powerful surveillance radar on top of the fuselage, it is used as an early warning and control aircraft, with a detection range of about 700 km for air targets. It provides interceptors and other friendly combat aircraft with information about enemy fighter, bomber, or missile that enter the Russian airspace.
Below, the A-50 in flight in 1986
The Beriev A-50 was developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War from the Ilyushin Il-76, which is a military heavy-lifter transport plane. It entered service with the Soviet Air Force in 1984. It would be employed in combat situation during the Russian-Aghan War (1979-1989), in the Syrian Civil War, and in the Russo-Ukrainian War to detect the presence of NATO's aircraft in the airspace over Ukraine.
Technical Characteristics
The Beriev A-50 is a four-engine aircraft, which is fitted with swept wings mounted high on the shoulder of fuselage. Its tailplane is also mounted high on the vertical fin. To carry out the early warning and control missions, its latest variant, the A-50U, is equipped with a detection Vega-M radar, which can track up to 200 enemy aircraft/objects.
Below, the Beriev A-50 flying in the skies over Siberia, near the Bering Straits in 1988.
Two A-50 early warning aircraft parked at an airbase in Afghanistan in 1986.
