Russia has likely grounded its A-50 radar aircraft fleet – UK intelligence

Russia may try to return the previously mothballed A-50 long-range radar detection and control aircraft to service, the UK intelligence report says.

A week after the loss of the second A-50, Russia probably stopped flying them.

UK intelligence believes that this will continue as long as internal investigations of the following are conducted:

• the inability to protect these aircraft,
• the threat posed by Ukraine's air defense.

"The loss of this capability, which provides day-to-day command and control of Russian air operations, is likely to significantly degrade the situational awareness of aircrews. This is a gap in capabilities that Russia cannot afford over the disputed airspace of eastern and southern Ukraine."

Russia will have to look for options to bridge this gap by repurposing aircraft and taking greater risks to provide the effective air support required by enemy ground forces.

It is likely it will try to return previously mothballed A-50s to service to mitigate the above problem.