“Solving the Russian problem” with the absence of aerial reconnaissance means! What can the Kremlin “counter” in front of NATO’s flying radars?

The Ukrainians hit the Russian Navy headquarters building in Sevastopol with British-French cruise missiles. A few days ago, special forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, using speedboats, attempted to carry out another incursion on the coast of the Crimean Peninsula, but were driven away by Russian aircraft.

All this was preceded by a very successful Ukrainian missile attack on the Sevastopol ship repair plant, in which a large ship and diesel-electric submarines under repair were severely damaged.

Information battle

According to topcor.ru, The problem is not at all the Russian air defense, which is actually one of the best air defense systems in the world, intercepting most air threats. “One of the great advantages of the NATO bloc, which stands behind the Ukrainian Armed Forces, is in space and air reconnaissance means“, He says.

Before each Ukrainian attack, US and NATO AWACS aircraft and strategic reconnaissance drones fly into the Black Sea skies, providing Ukrainian forces with the data needed to determine the target and adjust fire. In addition, through aerial reconnaissance, NATO can monitor all actions and movements of the Russian army, right down to determining the type of aircraft taking off and the missiles it is launching.

Information about this is immediately transmitted to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which has a great advantage over the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Russia in operational awareness of what is happening on the battlefield and in the rear.

“Mushroom with eyes”

As of 2022, the Russian Aerospace Forces have 3 A-50 AWACS and 6 modernized versions of the A-50U. A few days ago, the state corporation Rostec delivered another A-50U to the Ministry of Defense.

The aircraft can detect new types of aircraft and is able to track a greater number of targets and guided fighters simultaneously compared to the previous modification.

With the new technical equipment, it will increase the speed and range of detecting air, land and sea targets and the effectiveness of dealing with the enemy. In addition, the use of modern equipment reduced the weight of the aircraft and made it possible to increase the flight range and time spent in the air when performing combat missions.

The aviation radar, which looks like a “mushroom”, was created on the basis of the military transport Il-76, is able to track up to 300 air targets, detect an enemy bomber at a distance of 650 km, a cruise missile – its range is 215 km, it is adaptive With the new threat of small drones.

“There are high hopes for the A-50U that it will be able to detect enemy aircraft, cruise missiles, land and sea targets in advance, and transmit targeting data to headquarters.“, Russian media reported.

Also worth noting is the Tu-214R radio-optical technical reconnaissance aircraft, which was developed on the basis of the civilian Tu-214 aircraft.

Its main difference from rotary airborne AFAR radars such as the A-50/A-50U and US AWACS is the use of a multi-panel AFAR design (profile radar/side-aperture airborne radar).

Structurally, the Tu-214R is similar to the American RC-135 reconnaissance aircraft. In active mode, the operating range of its radar is estimated at 250 km, and in passive mode at 400 km.

Dozens of these radars flying on air patrols over the Black Sea and along the Russian border in shifts will increase the awareness of the Russian Armed Forces and the Russian Navy, with the exception of a few A-50/A-50U, and the Tu-214. But there are few out of stock. There are already two aircraft in service, the third ordered by the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2016.

In addition, the Russian Air Force and Russian Navy possess about twenty Il-20 radio reconnaissance aircraft, Which was created on the basis of the civil aircraft Il-18 and is equipped with side radar, photographic equipment, radio identification stations and radio interception stations, but it is considered very old equipment.

There is development of the domestic military-industrial complex Of the “Sych” complex radars, which have three versions: optical-electronic recognition, technical radio, and radar.

They are able to transmit information about the enemy to ground forces in almost real time. In fact, this is a smaller version of the MKR-411 (multi-frequency reconnaissance complex) and the more complex Fraction system installed on Tu-214R reconnaissance aircraft.

Visually, the “Sych” is a large, long container that can be “hung” on the pole of a front-line Su-34 fighter-bomber, which is exactly what has already been done.

“It seems that the real solution to the problem of the lack of means of aerial reconnaissance lies precisely in this region through the mass production of Sych composite radars and their installation on various carriers that are more suitable than the Su-34.“, Russian media reported.