A week after the loss of the second A-50U airborne early warning and control aircraft, Russia has suspended flights of such aircraft in support of operations in Ukraine, British intelligence has said.
“This is likely to continue whilst internal investigations take place surrounding the failure to protect another high value enabler, and how to mitigate the threat Ukrainian air defence continues to pose,” according to the report, published Friday on X social media of the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
British intelligence believes that the loss of “this capability providing daily command and control to Russian air operations highly significantly degrades the situational awareness provided to air crews.”
It is noted that this is a capability gap that Russia cannot afford. It also notes that “Russia will have to explore options to bridge this gap, including repurposing aircraft and accepting greater risk to provide the effective air support that its ground forces require, but are likely not receiving.”
“It is a realistic possibility Russia may attempt to bring previously mothballed A-50 airframes back into service to alleviate this,” British intelligence said.